e same reason we shall not often, in treating of
the different diseases in which examinations of the urine furnish such
valuable aid in forming a diagnosis, make mention of the changes which
are likely to have occurred.

INFLAMMATION.

The term _Inflammation_ signifies a state in which the infected part is
hotter, redder, more congested, and more painful than is natural.
Inflammation is limited to certain parts, while fever influences the
system generally. Inflammation gives rise to new formations, morbid
products, and lesions, or alterations of structure. The morbid products
of fever, and its modification of fluids are carried away by the
secretions and excretions.

The susceptibility of the body to inflammation maybe _natural_ or
_acquired_. It is natural when it is constitutional; that is, when there
is an original tendency of the animal economy to manifest itself in some
form of inflammation. We may notice that some children are far more
subject to boils, croups, and erysipelatous diseases than others. This
susceptibility, when innate, may be lessened by careful medication,
although it may never be wholly eradicated. When acquired, it is the
result of the influence of habits of life, climate, and the state of
mind over the constitution

Phlegmonous inflammation is the active inflammation of the cellular
membrane, one illustration of which is a common boil. The four principal
symptoms are redness, swelling, heat, and pain; and then appears a
conical, hard, circumscribed tumor, having its seat in the dermoid
texture. At the end of an indefinite period, it becomes pointed, white
or yellow, and discharges pus mixed with blood. When it breaks, a small,
grayish, fibrous mass sometimes appears, which consists of dead,
cellular tissue, and which is called the _core_.

There are certain morbid states of the constitution which lead to local
inflammation, subsequent upon slight injury; or, in some cases, without
any such provocation, as in gout, rheumatism, and scrofula. One of the
first results of the inflammation, in such cases, is a weakening of the
forces which distribute the blood to the surface and extremities of the
body. It is generally admitted that in scrofulous persons the vascular
system is weak, the vessels are small, and because nutrition is faulty,
the blood is _imperfectly organized_. The result is failure in the
system, for if nutrition fails, there may be lacking earthy matter for
the bones, or the