dy designated as the _scrofulous_ or _strumous diathesis_, is
generally recognized by medical practitioners and writers as a
constitutional condition predisposing many children to the development
of this disease. Enlargement of the head and abdomen, fair, soft and
transparent or dark, sallow, greasy or wax-looking skin, and precocious
intellect are supposed to indicate this diathesis.

The characteristic feature of this disease, in all the multifarious
forms that it assumes, is the formation of tubercle, which, when the
malady is fully developed, is an ever-present and distinguishing
element.

_Tuberculous_ is therefore almost synonymous with _scrofulous_, and to
facilitate an acquaintance with a large list of very prevalent maladies,
we may generalize, and classify them all under this generic term. As
_tubercle_ is frequently spoken of in works treating on medicine and
surgery, playing, as it does, a conspicuous part in an important list of
diseases, the reader may very naturally be led to inquire:

WHAT IS TUBERCLE? As employed in pathology, the term is usually applied
to a species of degeneration, or morbid development of a pale yellow
color, having, in its crude condition, a consistence analogous to that
of pretty firm cheese. The physical properties of tubercle are not
uniform, however. They vary with age and other circumstances. Some are
hard and calcareous, while others are soft and pus-like. The color
varies from a light yellow, or almost white, to a dark gray.

It is almost wholly composed of albumen united with a small amount of
earthy salts, as phosphate and carbonate of lime, with a trace of the
soluble salts of soda.

The existence of tubercular deposits in the tissues of the body, which
characterizes scrofula, when fully developed, must not, however, be
regarded as the primary affection. Its formation is the result of
disordered nutrition. The products of digestion are not fully
elaborated, and pass into the blood imperfected, in which condition they
are unable to fulfill their normal destiny--the repair of the bodily
tissues. Imperfectly formed albuminous matter oozes out from the blood,
and infiltrates the tissues, but it has little tendency to take on
cell-forms or undergo the vital transformation essential to becoming a
part of the tissues. Instead of nutritive energy, which by assimilation
produces perfect bodily textures, this function, in the scrofulous
diathesis, is deranged by debility, and t