Handbook of diseases of the ear : for the use of students and practitioners / by Richard Lake.

Date:
1904
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Handbook of diseases of the ear : for the use of students and practitioners / by Richard Lake. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    should always be seated while the ear is being syringed for whatever purpose. After the syringing has been completed, all moisture should be removed from the external meatus by means of pledgets of cotton-wool. When the ear is syringed for the removal of pus, it is an excellent method to attach a piece of fine indiarubber tubing to the nozzle of the syringe ; by introducing the rubber tube deep within the canal the stream of water may be brought directly into contact with the recesses of the meatus and the middle ear both quickly and painlessly. The Pneumatic or Siegel's Speculum—This instru- ment consists of an aural speculum with the addition of a vulcanite cylinder, across the outer end of which a piece of glass is fixed either horizontally or obliquely. The cylinder is attached to a piece of rubber tubing communicating with an arrangement whereby the air within the speculum is subjected to an increase or diminution of pressure at will. It is a good plan to connect this tube with a Delstanche's rarefacteur, this being easier to manipulate than a rubber bag. The use of the oblique plane glass is strongly advo- cated as superior to the convex shape frequently supplied with this instrument. The instrument possesses three differently sized endings to fit variously sized meatuses, and it is often possible to obtain a closer apposition of the instrument to the walls of the meatus if over the end of the speculum a small piece of indiarubber tubing is drawn. Its use is to enable the surgeon to estimate the relative tensions of the various parts of the membrane, to detect adhesions of the membrane to the structures beneath, and to deter- mine the amount of mobility possessed by the malleus. In employing the instrument the largest speculum that can be made to enter the meatus is chosen. After the air has been exhausted from the rarefacteur, or rubber bag, the speculum must be gently introduced into,