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122 DENTAL MEDICINE.

symptoms of acute inflammation are sthenic and asthenic fevers :
the sthenic being characterized by full, strong, rapid pulse, in-
creased temperature, flushed face, injected conjunctiva, headache,
lumbar pains, interrupted sleep, diminished secretions, dark col-
ored urine, thirst, tongue coated white or yellowish, and con-
stipation ; and is common in the strong and robust.
Asthenic fever is characterized by a feeble pulse, a fluctuating
temperature, a dull, torpid, and at times delirious mental condition,
the tongue dry and coated with a brown or black fur ; and is
common in the very young and feeble and old persons.
The fever of inflammation, also known as "traumatic," is very
generally present when the inflammation is severe, or the injury
occasioning it is extensive and complicated. This inflammatory
fever generally makes its appearance in from twelve to twenty-four
hours after the injury is received, or when the inflammatory proc-
ess is at its height ; and when the parts have previouslv been
healthy, and the inflammation limited, it is moderate in its char-
acter and soon terminates spontaneously. This fever is indic-
ative' of the introduction into the system of poisonous substances
resulting from the pathological changes in the exudates or the
fixed tissue cells, on account of the action of the specific micro-
organisms. The symptoms of inflammatory fever are a feeling
of fatigue, restlessness, thirst, hot and dry mouth, coated tongue,
urine scanty, but deeper in color, frequent pulse, temperature
about 100° F.; and the fever usually reaches its climax in about
thirty-six hours, when it begins to decline, and by the sixth or
seventh day has disappeared. In the case of an abscess, it fre-
quently happens that when suppuration occurs the fever begins to
decline. Should the fever continue longer than the time referred
to, the cause may generally be due to deeper suppuration and
other complications of the local affection. During the inflamma-
tory process, when putrescent matter has been absorbed by the
blood in greater quantity than can be resisted or gotten rid of by
the organism, and there is no escape from it by drainage, the
symptoms of inflammatory fever become more intense, and a con-
dition of septic poisoning takes place, known as septicemia. When
some time has elapsed after the inception of the inflammatory