Richard Bright's observations on diseases of the nervous system due to inflammation

This study examines case reports of brain diseases attributed to inflammation in Richard Bright's Reports of Medical Cases, Volume II. The rationale for the belief that these cases were due to inflammation is discussed in light of theories of inflammation that were current in Bright's time. The consequences of these theories for the therapy of brain diseases are evaluated. The value of Bright's reports lies in the accuracy of the descriptions of a number of brain diseases, featuring descriptions of symptoms or conditions that were novel or not well known in the early nineteenth century. They provided a conception of diseases that constituted "typical condition of many patients," rather than "disorderly condition of a particular patient." Many cases are illustrated by remarkable images of pathological specimens.