unctious secretions of the skin; the sebaceous
secretion is albuminous and liable to become dry, producing inflammation
of the parts which it ought to protect.

Disorder of the alimentary canal and other mucous surfaces are sometimes
reflected upon the skin. We have occasionally observed cutaneous
eruptions and erysipelas, when evidently they were distinct signs of
internal disorder.

Inflammation may be internal as well as external, as inflammation of the
brain, lungs, or stomach, and it is frequently the result of what is
called a _cold_. No matter how the body is chilled, the blood retreats
from the surface, which becomes pale and shrunken, there is also nervous
uneasiness, and frequently a rigor, accompanied with chattering of the
teeth. After the cold stage, reaction takes place and fever follows. The
sudden change from a dry and heated room to a cool and moist atmosphere
is liable to induce a cold. Riding in a carriage until the body is
shivering, or sitting in a draft of air when one has been previously
heated, or breathing a very cold air during the night when the body is
warm, especially when not accustomed to doing so, or exposing the body
to a low temperature when insufficiently clothed, are all different ways
of producing inflammation.

Inflammation may result in consequence of local injury, caused by a
bruise, or by a sharp, cutting instrument, as a knife or an axe, or it
may be caused by the puncture of a pin, pen-knife blade or a fork-tine,
or from a lacerated wound, as from the bite of a dog, or from a very
minute wound poisoned by the bite of a venomous reptile. Local
inflammations may arise from scalds, burns, the application of caustics,
arsenic, corrosive sublimate, cantharides, powerful acids, abrasions of
the surface by injuries, and from the occurrence of accidents.

The _swelling_ of the part may be caused by an increase of the quantity
of blood in the vessels, the effusion of serum and coagulating lymph,
and the interruption of absorption by the injury, or by the altered
condition of the inflamed part.

The character of the _pain_ depends upon the tissue involved, and upon
the altered or unnatural state of the nerves. Ordinarily, tendon,
ligament, cartilage, and bone are not very sensitive, but when inflamed
they are exquisitely so.

The heat of the inflamed part is not so great, when measured by the
thermometer, as might be supposed from the patient's sensations.

TERMINATION OF INFLAMM