1. The depression of the nervous system so characteristic of synochus
and typhus, is much less in degree in scarlatina. Neither the physical
nor the mental debility is as great. In the whole attitude and manner of
the patient, as well as in his own sensations, there is less
prostration. The disease is more nearly allied to a pure inflammatory
affection than either of the preceding forms of fever.
2. Accordingly, the circulation is not only more rapid, but it is also
more strong. It is not uncommon for the pulse to be 140 in a minute; in
severe cases it is seldom below 120. Without being hard, it is more full
and strong and less easily compressed than in the other forms of fever.
3. Corresponding with the activity and energy of the circulation is the
increase of the temperature; the heat over the whole surface of the body
is often intense and pungent. In this fever, the temperature, as
indicated by the thermometer, rises several degrees higher than in any
other.
4. The capillary vessels of the external skin, as is shewn by the bright
and vivid colour of its characteristic eruption, are filled with blood.
Often from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, the external
covering of the body is in a state of inflammation, and this
inflammation constantly terminates in the death of the cuticle, whence
it is thrown off by the process of desquamation. It is not improbable
that the large quantity of blood which is thus spent upon the surface of
the body, and which is thereby diverted from the internal organs, is one
reason why the latter are not so much oppressed as in the other forms of
fever.
5. Much as the external skin is loaded with blood, the capillary vessels
of the internal skin appear to be equally turgid with it. This is
indicated by the bright and vivid redness of the mucous membrane
covering the mouth, the tongue, the fauces and the throat. That this
redness extends beyond these external parts into the internal organs
there is abundant evidence, because, although we cannot follow it with
the eye, we can trace it by the signs of disordered function which
arise.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account