Osteopathy Complete
Elmer D. Barber, D. O.
1898
  
           
DISEASES OF THE BLOOD
 
 
ANEXIA
(Deficiency of blood and red corpuscles.)

SYMPTOMS
    Weak heart; palpitation; vertigo; neuralgia; insomnia; impaired appetite and, digestion; eyeballs of a bluish tint; countenance pale; urine pale.

TREATMENT
    Very thorough Treatment to Equalize the Circulation.  Particular stress should be placed upon No. 1, being very thorough in the cervical and upper dorsal region, as it is here that we reach the nerves which control the assimilation.  It is also advisable to give vibrations over the spleen, one of the sources of origin of the corpuscles.
    Treatment should be gives every other day, fifteen minutes.  Improvement should be noticed after the first week, and a cure in from six to twelve weeks.
 


 
CHLOROSIS, OR GREEN SICKNESS
(A form of anemia in young girls occurring about puberty.)

SYMPTOMS
    Complexion of a yellowish-green hue; languor; weariness; neuralgia; pearly eyes; amenorrhea; and palpitation.

TREATMENT
    1.  See Treatment to Equalize the Circulation.  This treatment should be given in a very thorough, careful manner.
    2.  See Amenorrhea.
    Treatment should be given every other day.  Immediate benefit can be expected, and a cure effected in from two to three months.
 


 
THE LYMPHATIC CIRCULATION

    There exists generally within the tissues of the body a system of vessels, or channels, which contain the juices of the tissues, and within these vessels a fluid is always moving in a centripetal direction.  These channels within the tissues arise in a variety of ways, uniting to form delicate and, afterward, thicker tubes in their course, which finally terminate in two large trunks which open at the junction of the jugular and subclavian veins.  That on the right side is the right lymphatic trunk, and that on the left is the thoracic duct.  This fluid is called the lymph, permeating every tissue, in the body, bathing their constituent elements, supplying them with nutriment, and enabling them to dispose of the waste products resulting from their metabolism.
    The lymph is collected and returned to the blood in special tubes, the lymphatics.  They communicate freely with each other, at first forming thin-walled, microscopic lymphatic vessels, and by their confluence forming the lymphatic veins, which usually accompany the superficial and deep blood-vessels.
    The larger lymphatics are provided with valves which open towards the heart.  The walls are so thin and translucent that often the clear lymph which they contain may be seen.
    The general function of the lymphatics is to collect the fluid that saturates the tissues and convey it back to the blood.
    The capillary blood system may be regarded as a system of irrigation which supplies the tissues with nutrient fluid, while the lymphatic may be regarded as a drainage apparatus, conveying away the fluids that have passed through the capillary walls.  The lymphatic represents an appendix to the blood-vascular system.  A careful study of these conditions shows that there can be no lymphatic system when the bloodstream is completely arrested.
    The lymphatic glands are incorrectly named, as they are merely many-branched lacunar labyrinthine spaces composed of adenoid tissue, intercalated in the course of the lymphatic vessels.  The simple lymph-glands, or lymph-follicles, are small rounded bodies about the size of a pin-head.
    The compound lymphatic glands are a collection of lymph-follicles, and are small oval or kidney-shaped bodies, varying much in size.
    Lymph-glands not only form leucocytes, but in them, also, cells break down, and the products of their disintegration are taken up by the leucocytes and further changed by them.
    It is estimated that the total amount of lymph and chyle passing through the large vessels in twenty-four hours is equal to the amount of blood; it will, therefore, be readily understood that a free and uninterrupted circulation of the fluids of the body is essential to a condition of perfect health.