Literary notes about algid (AI summary)
The word "algid" is employed in literature to evoke a pronounced sense of coldness, both literally and metaphorically. In medical narratives, it describes stages of fever and illness where a detectable chill marks a shift in condition, as seen in descriptions of malarial fever [1], cholera [2], and other conditions that lead practitioners to adjust their treatment approaches [3], [4], [5], [6]. In more evocative contexts, authors use "algid" to intensify the atmosphere—whether to mirror internal dread with a cold, creeping chill [7], [8] or to enrich sensory details by associating the air itself with a unique, almost surreal quality [9].
- Yet the efficacy of this powerful agency is by no means comparable to that which it produces in the algid forms of malarial fever.
— from A System of Practical Medicine. By American Authors. Vol. 1 Pathology and General Diseases - The skin is perceptibly cold in the algid stage of cholera.
— from A System of Practical Medicine. By American Authors. Vol. 1 Pathology and General Diseases - Before the algid stage sets in, the heating bandage round the body may be very beneficial; but during the algid stage it should be omitted.
— from Every Man His Own Doctor The Cold Water, Tepid Water, and Friction-Cure, as Applicable to Every Disease to Which the Human Frame Is Subject, and Also to the Cure of Disease in Horses and Cattle by R. T. Claridge - (b) The algid or asthenic form begins with vomiting and great prostration.
— from Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Thomas Jefferson Ritter - Equally ineffectual are other means used for communicating heat to the algid body and thereby reviving its functions.
— from A System of Practical Medicine. By American Authors. Vol. 1 Pathology and General Diseases - The algid or congestive form occurs more frequently than either of the others.
— from A System of Practical Medicine. By American Authors. Vol. 1 Pathology and General Diseases - The fear that had stricken her heart by turns seemed a cold hand pressing upon its beating and an algid vapor rising
— from The Valiants of Virginia by Hallie Erminie Rives - Harry felt an algid chill creep over him.
— from The Long Lane's Turning by Hallie Erminie Rives - For, of all the miracles!—I could not doubt—an actual aroma like peach-blossom was in the algid air about me!
— from The Purple Cloud by M. P. (Matthew Phipps) Shiel
