Rheumatism

(peujacicuo from ceypate= xigw, to be afflicted with defluxions.) This term is so-called from its being formerly used in the same sense as rheum a; but, in the present day, the meaning of this word is applied to a genus of diseases in the cla pyrexiz and order phlegmasiz of Cullen; characterized by pyrexia, pains in the joints, increased by the action of the muscles belonging to the joint, and heat on the part. The blood, after vena section, exhibits an inflammatory crust. Rheumatism terminates in arthrodynia, lumbago, and ischias. Rheumatism is distinguished into acute and chronic. The acute is preceded by shivering, heat, thirst, and frequent pulse; after which the pain commences, and soon fixes on the joints. The chronic rheumatism is distinguished by pain in the joints, without pyrexia, and is divided into three species; lumbago, affecting the loins; and ischias, or schiatica, affecting the hip, and arthrodynia, or pains in the joints. ‘The acute species mostly terminates in one of these species.