On the art of percussion : as applied to the diagnosis of thoracic and abdominal diseases / by John Hughes Bennett.

  • John Hughes Bennett
Date:
[1842]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the art of percussion : as applied to the diagnosis of thoracic and abdominal diseases / by John Hughes Bennett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    18/21 page 16
    shall esteem myself fortunate, however, if the remarks and rules now laid down in any way facilitate the important and difficult art of percussion, as applied to the diagnosis of thoracic and ab- dominal diseases. EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. All the Figures are of the full size. Fig. 1. The' hammer, o, the head made of steel, brass, or iron ; b, the cap- sule screwed on; c, the projecting disc of caoutchouc; d, the handle made of wood ; e, depression for the thumb ; /, //, depressions for the index and ring fingers. [It will be observed that the head is not placed exactly at right angles Mith the handle, but that it has a slight obliquity upwards. This is neces- sary, because in employing it, the handle is almost certain to be somewhat elevated, and this slight obliquity even then allows the practitioner to striko tlie pleximeter perpendicularly.3 Fig. 2. The head of the hammer without the capsule, shewing the maimer in which the caoutchouc is attached. Fig. 3. The capsule separated, shewing the size of the opening through which the caoutchouc passes. Fig. 4. The extremity of the head, showing the form of the nozzle to wliich the caoutchouc is attached. Fig. 5. The front and edge of the caoutchouc, showing the manner in which it ought to be cut or prepared, [Dr Winterich attaches much importance to the mode of preparing the caoutchouc. I have found that cutting a square piece of it, about a quarter of an inch thick, in such a way that two convex surfaces are presented, answers every purpose. One of these rests upon the concave surface of the nozzle, figured in the plate (fig. 4) ; the other projects thiough the capsule, (fig. 1, c.) The thin part is stretched over the lip, and tied, (fig. 2.)] Fig. 6. The pleximeter drawn in perspective, shewing its thickness, the size of the handles, and their roughened external surface. Fig. 7. The pleximeter seen from above, shewing the exact size of the in- strument, and the inch and a half scale drawn upon its surface.
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