On some points in the pathology and treatment of typhoid fever : delivered at the Royal College of Physicians of London / by Wm. Cayley.

  • Cayley, W. (William), 1836-1916.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On some points in the pathology and treatment of typhoid fever : delivered at the Royal College of Physicians of London / by Wm. Cayley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Supposing the germ theory to be correct, there is, of course, no reason why the poison should not preserve its vitality, by continuous propagation, for an indefi- nite time. On the whole, though the point cannot be regarded as finally determined, I think the weight of evidence is against the de novo origin of the disease. We have now to consider a question about which much difference of opinion still prevails, viz., the contagiousness of typhoid fever. That the disease is communicable from the sick to the healthy is, I believe, universally acknowledged, the point in dis- pute being the mode in which the transmission takes place, whether directly by emanations from the patient, or from his fresh evacuations, or indirectly from eating or drinking, or inhaling the emanations from the stools, modified by their having undergone some kind of decomposition or fermentation outside the organism. Although the point in dispute is a narrow one, it is of considerable importance, and erroneous views may lead, on the one hand, to the adoption of unnecessary restrictions, which may seriously incom- mode the patient and his attendants, while at the same time it is only too likely to cause a neglect of the really essential precautions. I have myself witnessed an outbreak of typhoid where the belief in its contagiousness—shared, I may say, by the medical practitioners—was so strong as to excite quite a panic, so that difficulty was found in procuring attendants for the sick. In consequence, I