Some cases of chronic consumption pass in a few months through the
various stages from the deposit of the first tubercle to a fatal
termination.
The progress of the disease is determined largely by the nature of the
tubercular matter at the time it is deposited.
The variety of matter which has been partially vitalized commonly
exists in small quantity, has a strong tendency to maintain its
semi-organized condition unchanged by time, and rarely causes
inflammation.
A small or moderate quantity of this sort of tubercle exists in the
lungs of many persons, in whom it produces no tangible symptoms, and
who are therefore quite unconscious of its presence; and even when it
does exist in sufficient quantity to develop the symptoms of lung
disorder, the progress of the disease is slow, often continuing for
many years. It constitutes a variety of consumption which is specially
amenable to proper treatment. On the other hand, the soft, yellow,
cheesy, tubercular matter, which is totally destitute of any vitality,
is too often deposited in large quantities, acts on the adjacent lung
tissue as an active irritant, causes inflammation, undergoes
softening, forms cavities, defies treatment, and rapidly hurries the
sufferers to a premature grave. These facts, taken in connection with
the immunity from lung diseases enjoyed by those whose respiratory
capacity is well developed and properly used, as well as the
beneficial effects that are promptly secured in the favorable
varieties of consumption by any important increase in the vital
volume, I believe fully justify the statement that _tubercles are the
results of defective nutrition directly traceable to inadequate
respiratory capacity_, either congenital or acquired--in other words,
tubercles are composed of particles of food which have failed to
acquire sufficient life while undergoing the vital processes, because
the person in whom they occur habitually breathed too little fresh
air.
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