Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A dictionary of practical surgery / [Samuel Cooper]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
19/1282 (page 7)
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A dictionary of practical surgery / [Samuel Cooper]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
![HEGY being taken not to injure the surrounding skin with it. ACHILLES, Tendon of: See Tendons. ACIDS. See Acetic Acid; Muriatic Acid; and Nitrous and Nitric Acids. ACTUAL CAUTERY. ‘A heated iron, formerly much used in surgery for the extirpa- tion and cure of diseases. ‘The instrument was made in various shapes, adapted to different cases, and it was often applied through a cannula, in order that no injury might be done to the sur- rounding parts. Actwal cauteries were so called in opposition to other applications, which, though they were not really hot, produced the same effect as fire, and consequently were named virtual or potential cauteries.. he actual cautery is still in use upon the continent; and by foreign sur- geons, we are not unfrequently criticised for our general aversion to what they distinguish by the appellation of an heroic remedy. Pouteau, Percy, Dupuytren, Larrey, Roux, and Maunoir, are all advocates for the practice; and the latter gentle- man, when he was lately in England, took the opportunity of reminding British surgeons of their error, in totally abandoning, as they now do, the employment of heated irons in the busi- ness of their profession. (See Obs. on the Use of the Actual Cautery, Med. Chir. Trans. Vol. TX. p. 364. &e-) ACUPUNCTURE (from aeus, a needle, and pungo, to prick). The operation of making small punctures in certain parts of the body with a needle, for the purpose of relieving diseases, as is practised in Siam, Japan, and other oriental countries, for the cure of headachs, lethargies, convulsions, colics, &e. (See Phil. Trans. No. 148; and Wilh. Ten. Rhyne, de Arthritide, Mantissa Schematica, &c. 8vo. Lond. 1683.) The practice of acupuncture is not followed in England. In a modern French work, it has been highly commended; but, the author sets so rash an example, and is so wild in his expectations of what may be done by the thrust of a needle, that the tenor of his observations will not meet with many approvers. Tor instance, in one case, he ventured to pierce the epigastric region so deeply, that the coats of the stomach were supposed to hive been perforated: this was done for the cure of an obstinate cough, and is alleged to have effected a cure! But, if this be not enough to excite wonder, I am sure, the author’s suggestion to run @ long necdle into the right ventricle of the heart, im cases of asphyxia, must create that sensation. (See Berlioz, Mém. sur les Maladies Chroniques, et sur V Acupuncture, p. 305-309, Sve. Paris, 1816.) ADHESIVE INFLAMMATION. That kind of inflammation, which makes parts of the body adhere, or grow together. ‘The process, by which recent incised wounds are united, without any suppuration, and frequently synonymous with union by the first intention. (See Union by the First Intention.) 4EGYLOPS (from of, a goat, and w), an eye.) A disease so named from the supposition that goats were very subject to it’ The term means a sore just under the inner angle of the eye. The best modern surgeons seem to consider the zgylops, only as a stage of the fistula lachry- malis, Mr. Pott remarks, when the skin covering the lacrymal sac has been for some time inflamed, ALV 7 or subject to frequently returning inflammations, it most commonly happens, that the puncta Jachrymalia are affected by it, and the fluid, not having an opportunity of passing off by them, distends the inflamed skin, so that, at last, it be- comes sloughy, and bursts externally. This is the state of the ‘disease, which is called perfect aigylops, or egylops. (Poti on Fistula Lachry- malis. ) /Egylops was a very common term with the old surgical writers, who certainly did not suspect, that obstruction in the lachrymal parts of the eye, is so frequently the cause of the sore, as it really is. ‘The skin over the lachrymal sac must un- doubtedly be, like that in every other situation, subject to inflammation and abscesses; but, we do not find, that sores, unconnected with disease of the lachrymal sae, are here so frequent, as to merit a distinct appellation, = AGARIC, A species of fungus, growing on the oak, and formerly much celebrated for its eflicacy in stopping bleeding. (See Hemorrhage.) ALBUGO (from albus, white). A white opacity of the cornea, not of a superficial kind, but affecting the very substance of this mem- brane. The disease is similar to the leucoma, with which it wi]! be considered. (See Leucomea. ) ALPHONSIN. The name of an instrument for extracting balls. It is so called from the name of its inventor Alphonso Ferrier, a Neapo- litan physician.- It consists of three branches, which separate from each other by their elasticity, but are capable of being closed by means of a tube, in which they are included. ALUM (An Arabic word). Alum, either in its simple state, or deprived of its water of crystallization, by being burnt, has long been used in surgery. The ingenious author of the Pharmacopceia Chirurgica remarks, that except for external use, as a dry powder, the virtues of alum are not improved by exposure to fire. Ten grains of alum, made into a bolus with conserve of roses, are given thrice a day at Guy’s Hospi- tal, in such cases, as demand powerful astringent remedies. In a relaxed state of the urinary pas- sages, or want of power of the sphincter vesicz, small doses of alum have been found of service. Alum is employed as an ingredient in several astringent lotions, gargles, injections, and collyria. It was recommended by Dr. Perceval, as a remedy for counteracting the poison of lead. Burnt alum isa mild caustic, and is a principal ingredient in most styptic powders. ALVINE CONCRETIONS. Comprehend- ing under this head both gall-stones and intestinal concretions, an interesting subject presents itself, certain parts of which have been chiefly elucidated in modern times, as will be hereafter explained. When the concretions voided are very numerous, they are generally gall-stones. Thus, Dr. Coe relates an instance, in which seventy were dis- charged in one day. In the same short time Petermann knew of seventy-two being voided from one individual; Birch, one hundred; Bar- bette, Sloane, and Vogel, two hundred; and Russell, four hundred. A patient, under the care of Van Swieten, had voided two hundred, and was still continuing to expel others. Riverius speaks of another patient, who had voided calculi from the bowels for several years whenever he went to stool. (Observ. Commun.) Fernelius likewise](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b33285263_0001_0019.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
