A concise treatise of operative surgery, describing the methods adopted by the English, Continental, and American surgeons / [W.P. Cocks].

  • Cocks, W. P.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A concise treatise of operative surgery, describing the methods adopted by the English, Continental, and American surgeons / [W.P. Cocks]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    APPLICATION OF LEECHES. The part to which they are to be applied should be well washed, and, if covered with strong hairs, shaved, and the skin moistened with a little blood or warm milk, or rubbed over with a piece of fresh beef. When a large number of leeches are to be applied, six or eight are put into a wine glass, the bottom of which is covered with a piece of paper or linen rag to prevent them from sticking; turn the glass down upon the skin on which they soon fasten. The rag should alwTays project beyond the edges of the glass, and when it is reversed, by pulling on the ends of the linen, the leeches are seen lying upon the skin. Some practitioners prefer applying them one at a time, and recommend the following method:—having wiped the leech dry with a linen cloth, take it between the thumb and finger by the middle, and apply its mouth to the spot selected. When first applied, it is apt to twist and extend itself, attempting to seize on some other part, but it must be repeatedly drawn back and re-applied, until it fixes upon the desired spot. When it has taken a firm hold, it may be left to the enjoy- ment of its labours. In time of scarcity, snipping off the tail will allow the blood to flow through the artificial opening as fast as the leech sucks it, and thus multiply their individual means of useful- ness. Blood-letting from the Hcemorrhoidal Veins. The patient being seated on a perforated chair, which only uncovers the anus itself, the operator stooping or kneeling, by means of a taper, sees the part to which the leech is to be applied ; and, provided with a small round wide-bottom bottle with a long neck, just large enough to contain one leech, he allows the animal to crawl out and fix itself on the part intended. The operator, having applied one
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