History, Modern -- 19th century; Nineteenth century
The awakening came in France. In 1801 Bichat, a young man, published
a work on general anatomy, in which he placed the seat of disease,
not in the organs, but in the tissues or fabrics of which they were
composed, which gave an extraordinary impetus to the investigation
of pathological changes. Meanwhile, the study of the appearances of
organs and bodies when diseased (morbid anatomy), which had been
prosecuted with vigor by Morgagni in the eighteenth century, had been
carried on actively in Great Britain and on the Continent, and the
work of Broussais stimulated a more accurate investigation of local
disorders. The discovery by Laennec of the art of auscultation, by
which, through changes in the normal sounds within the chest, various
diseases of the heart and lungs could be recognized, gave an immense
impetus to clinical research. The art of percussion, discovered by
Avenbrugger in the eighteenth century, and reintroduced by Corvisart,
contributed not a little to the same. Laennec’s contributions to the
study of diseases of the lungs, of the heart, and of the abdominal
organs really laid the foundation of modern clinical medicine. A little
later Bright published his researches on diseases of the kidneys, from
which we date our knowledge of this important subject. One of the most
complicated problems of the first half of the century related to the
differentiation of the fevers. The eruptive fevers, measles, scarlet
fever, and small-pox, were easily recognized, and the great group of
malarial fevers was well known; but there remained the large class of
continued fevers, which had been a source of worry and dispute for
many generations. Louis clearly differentiated typhoid fever, and by
the work of his American pupils, W. W. Gerhard and Alfred Stillé, of
Philadelphia, and George B. Shattuck, of Boston, typhus and typhoid
fevers were defined as separate and independent affections. Relapsing
fever, yellow fever, dengue, etc., were also distinguished. The work of
Graves and Stokes, of Dublin, of Jenner and Budd, in England, of Drake,
Dickson, and Flint, in America, supplemented the labors of the French
physicians, and by the year 1860 the profession had reached a sure and
safe position on the question of the clinical aspects of fevers.
The most distinguishing feature of the scientific medicine of
the century has been the phenomenal results which have followed
_experimental investigations_. While this method of research is not
new, since it was introduced by Galen, perfected by Harvey, and
carried on by Hunter, it was not until well into the middle of the
century that, by the growth of research laboratories, the method
exercised a deep influence on progress. The lines of experimental
research have sought to determine the functions of the organs in
health, the conditions under which perversion of these functions occur
in diseases, and the possibility of exercising protective and curative
influences on the processes of disease.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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