Lithotrity and lithotomy compared : being an analytical examination of the present methods of treating stone in the bladder, with suggestions for rendering lithotrity applicable to the disease in almost all its stages and varieties, and remarks on the general treatment of gravel and stone / by Thomas King.

  • King, Thomas, 1802-1839.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lithotrity and lithotomy compared : being an analytical examination of the present methods of treating stone in the bladder, with suggestions for rendering lithotrity applicable to the disease in almost all its stages and varieties, and remarks on the general treatment of gravel and stone / by Thomas King. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    death, in more instances than one, in less than twenty-four hours, and there are few who have not had to lament the inefficiency of art to counteract its disastrous effects. The urine, then, is not only useless in itself, but of a highly destructive nature; and this remark appears to apply to the whole animal kingdom. It will be found, that wherever this fluid is employed at all, it is used only as a means of defence ; and that, from its peculiarly offensive if not de- leterious qualities.* * Several of the weasel tribe have recourse to the expul- sion of their urine, to check the pursuit of enemies ; and the annoyance and species of suffocation occasioned by its strong and tenacious smell affords them no inefficient protection. The fox appears to rely upon the same expedient to stop the pro- gress of its pursuers. That insect which the French call le pistolet owes its name to the report accompanying the ejection of its urine, which the creature seems to direct against external foes. The venom spit forth by the toad is nothing more, and the cuttle-fish foils the approach of aggression by troubling the water with its black urine, so as to be lost sight of by its followers. (Blainville, Lecons de Physiologic)