Observations on the history and cause of asthma : and a review of A practical enquiry on disordered respiration, in a letter to Robert Bree, M.D., the author of that work / by George Lipscomb.

  • Lipscomb, George, 1773-1846.
Date:
1800
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the history and cause of asthma : and a review of A practical enquiry on disordered respiration, in a letter to Robert Bree, M.D., the author of that work / by George Lipscomb. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    and correct idoa of a difeafc, and exhibits the out- line of its charaAer, in fuch a light, as to diilingpilh it from every other difeafc. In order to define a difeafe accurately, it muft be perfeftly underftood : but a difeafe may be per- fectly underftood, fo far as the limited powers of the human underttanding can be faid to attain prfeSt knowledge, and yet it may be almoft impoflible to give an exad definition of it. Much labour and ftudy being required for that purpofe, it is to be feared, that while Authors have been racking their brains for comprehenfive terms, ■whereby they might define difeafes, a great por- tion of time and of induftry has been wafted, which might have been more advantageoufly employed in the invettigation of the fymptoms and progrefs of thofe difeafes, and in the eftablifhment of opi- nions founded on clinical experience, which is the only true bafis of pradtical knowledge. You have been pleafed to quote fome authorities, on the quantity* of atmofpheric air received at each infpiration j and have noticed the curious phenom- enon of divers in the pearl fifheries remaining under ■water, for a confiderable length of time. I take leave to introduce a circumftance which you feem to have overlooked, namely, that in perfons accuftom- ed to diving from an early period of life, the foramen ovale remains open. The freedom of the circu- • Pra^lical En(jwy, p. zo, zi. '' lation.