Henry Baird Favill, AB, MD, LL.D., 1860-1916, a ... - University Library

MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 133
Soon followed the introduction of the salicyl element in
various forms. In this was great promise, and its early
history was such as to encourage the hope for a specific.
That this hope has not been fulfilled does not belittle its
value nor gainsay the fact that it, of all the drugs at our
command, is the most efficient.
That the obviously imperfect compass of these theories
may still
within its limits have been sound, we can not dis-
The scope of such views is too limited to harmonize
pute.
with advancing knowledge, and the deeper levels of causation
must be explored. The more intricate reactions of
physiology and biolog>^ will of necessity be invoked to clear
up this obscurity. We are not materially nearer to a
determining cause than our predecessors, but the lines
upon which our progress will occur are better determined
and the points in controversy more defined.
Have we to deal with a local or general condition ?
Mere
multiplicity of lesions does not settle that point, nor do the
whimsical shifts of site. The preceding essays, however,
have clearly set forth the reasons for regarding it as constitutional.
Next, is it septic or toxic? If toxic, is it from
invaders, or is it autotoxic? In this field controversy must
occur, and the issue can not fail to be momentous, especially
as bearing on treatment. We must sharply discriminate
between true sepsis, the manifestation of pathogenic
germs in the tissues, and intoxication as an absorption from
septic development in the intestinal tract, or other external
site. And again, we must sharply discriminate between
toxins from such infective sources, and toxins of metabolic
origin.
The territory which must be examined to clear this
obscurity is broad. We have little demonstrated knowledge
upon which to found a pathology. Analogy and
inferential conclusions are, on the whole, strong, and our
views of the process are not seriously
past.
discordant with the