Atrophy is the opposite to hypertrophy.
Want of blood or of the supply of nervous
energy will cause an organ to shrink away.
So a palsied hand often, in time, withers to
half its original size. Atrophy occurs
471
8
THE FAMIL Y DOCTOR
naturally, all over the body, with old age.
First the fat is absorbed, then the muscles,
and afterward other parts.
Degenei'ation. — Instead of lessening in
size, however, from loss of life-force, an
organ may grow larger, with change of sub-
stance. 'V\)X^\s organic degeneration. The
substance taking the place of the natural
tissue of the part is always inferior in char-
acter to that tissue. Thus/«/ may take the
place oi muscle^ as in " fatty degeneration of
the heart." Or bone-like material may
form in place of the proper substance of the
arteries ; making ' ' ossification ' ' of those
vessels. Or the liver or kidney may be en-
larged, the normal cells of either organ being
replaced by a material like the areolar
("cellular") tissue of the surface of the
body under the skin. Tubercle, of the
lungs or other parts, is essentially a kind of
degeneration ; although it often follows at-
tacks of inflammation. Acute and chronic
inflammation of various organs is frequently
followed by hardening or softening ; both
of these being modes of degenerative alter-
ation.
Dropsy.
Seldom does an accumulation of water
occur in one part of the body without some
previous general disorder of the system , or
at least an affection of some of the great
organs : the hearty liver, or kidneys. We
do sometimes meet with ' ' white swelling ' '
of the knee ; but nearly always there are
also signs of a " scrofulous ' ' constitution to
predispose to it.
Inflammation may, however, cause an
effusion of serum, which remains after the
acuteness of the attack has passed. The
simplest illustration of this is seen in a
blister.
Suppose mustard to be applied to the
skin. First, we see stimulation shown by
redness and heat, with very little if any
swelling, and no pain. Next, irritation,
with soreness and pain, perhaps quite severe ;
then inflammation, followed by efl^usion,
which raises the skin into what we call a
"blister."
So, also, when the pleura, which lines
the ribs and wraps the lungs, is inflamed, it
throws out in a few days more or less lymph,
472
as an effusion. If this is copious in amount,
it presses the lung away, and interferes with
its expansion in breathing. This is some-
times so serious a trouble as to induce phy-
sicians to tap the chest and draw off the
water to relieve the oppressed lung. L<ike-
wise, inflammation of the covering of the
heart (^pericarditis) may result in a serious
effusion within the pericardial sac, clogging
the heart so as not infrequently to cause
death. Hydrocephalus, or water on the
brain, may originate in a similar way.
Dropsy of the chest, however, dropsy of
the head, dropsy of the abdomen {ascites),
and general dropsy, are much more often
brought on by obstruction of the circulation,
with thinning of the blood, from disease of
the liver, kid7ieys, or heart, or two or more
of those organs at the same time. Ovarian
dropsy attends a disease of one or both of
the ovaries.
CEdema is a watery swelling of a part of
the surface of the body or limbs.
Kmphyskma is a puffiness of the skin,
or lungs, from accumulation of air in the
cellular substance of the part affected.
Mortification.
Page 128
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Atrophy is the opposite to hypertrophy. Want of blood or of the supply of nervous energy will cause an organ to shrink away. So a palsied hand often, in time, withers to half its original size. Atrophy occurs
naturally, all over the body, with old age. First the fat is absorbed, then the muscles, and afterward other parts.
Degeneration. — Instead of lessening in size, however, from loss of life-force, an organ may grow larger, with change of substance. This is organic degeneration. The substance taking the place of the natural tissue of the part is always inferior in character to that tissue. Thus fat may take the place of muscle^ as in " fatty degeneration of the heart." Or bone-like material may form in place of the proper substance of the arteries ; making ' ' ossification ' ' of those vessels. Or the liver or kidney may be enlarged, the normal cells of either organ being replaced by a material like the areolar ("cellular") tissue of the surface of the body under the skin. Tubercle, of the lungs or other parts, is essentially a kind of degeneration ; although it often follows attacks of inflammation. Acute and chronic inflammation of various organs is frequently followed by hardening or softening ; both of these being modes of degenerative alteration.
Dropsy.
Seldom does an accumulation of water occur in one part of the body without some previous general disorder of the system , or at least an affection of some of the great organs : the hearty liver, or kidneys. We do sometimes meet with ' ' white swelling ' ' of the knee ; but nearly always there are also signs of a " scrofulous ' ' constitution to predispose to it.
Inflammation may, however, cause an effusion of serum, which remains after the acuteness of the attack has passed. The simplest illustration of this is seen in a blister.
Suppose mustard to be applied to the skin. First, we see stimulation shown by redness and heat, with very little if any swelling, and no pain. Next, irritation, with soreness and pain, perhaps quite severe ; then inflammation, followed by efl^usion, which raises the skin into what we call a "blister."
So, also, when the pleura, which lines the ribs and wraps the lungs, is inflamed, it throws out in a few days more or less lymph,
as an effusion. If this is copious in amount, it presses the lung away, and interferes with its expansion in breathing. This is sometimes so serious a trouble as to induce physicians to tap the chest and draw off the water to relieve the oppressed lung. L<ikewise, inflammation of the covering of the heart (^pericarditis) may result in a serious effusion within the pericardial sac, clogging the heart so as not infrequently to cause death. Hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, may originate in a similar way.
Dropsy of the chest, however, dropsy of the head, dropsy of the abdomen {ascites), and general dropsy, are much more often brought on by obstruction of the circulation, with thinning of the blood, from disease of the liver, kidneys, or heart, or two or more of those organs at the same time. Ovarian dropsy attends a disease of one or both of the ovaries.
CEdema is a watery swelling of a part of the surface of the body or limbs.
Emphysema is a puffiness of the skin, or lungs, from accumulation of air in the cellular substance of the part affected.
Mortification.