An essay on the malformations and congenital diseases of the organs of sight / by W.R. Wilde.

  • Wilde, W. R. (William Robert), 1815-1876.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on the malformations and congenital diseases of the organs of sight / by W.R. Wilde. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    15/160 (page 3)
    ciency of these, or of any such parts, singly or collectively; the various solutions of continuity, known as hare-lip, cleft pa- late, or spina bifida, and recognized either as the result of mor- bid action or irregularity in the growth of the foetus; or again, when parts become displaced, as in the viscera, or, are altoge- ther wanting, as in acardiac or acephalous foetuses ; together with closure of the anus, the ear, the urethra; or in fine, any of those curious appearances, such as Siamese twins, or foetuses joined together after various fashions; it is our duty to be in- formed upon. Heretofore such curiosities were termed freaks of nature, but they are all now classed according to some more definite rules, which in those days of transcendental anatomy, have been styled laws of analogy, by which every deformity or monstrosity is referred to some arrest of development, while the young animal is passing, as it is called, through some of the transitions from reptile to fish, fish to fowl, and fowl to mammalia. I have often thought that it would form a very interesting, and not altogether uninstructive essay, if some careful and la- borious investigator in this country would draw up an outline, or brief resume, of all the known congenital deformities to which the human subject is liable. After all, essays and pa- pers of that description are of great value, although men have seldom awarded them the meed of praise they deserve, for the labour and industry expended in their compilation. The ma- terials of such essays are generally scattered throughout a great number of works, or are to be found in detached no- tices, in monographs, and periodicals, and when such are carefully and skilfully arranged, their authors are as deserv- ing of praise, as the bee who collects from every opening flower, upon the wide expanse of the landscape, the sweets, that when brought home to the cell, form delicious food ; but which, if uncollected, or left in the honeybags of their native