A Dictionary of terms used in medicine and the collateral sciences / by Richard D. Hoblyn.
- Richard Hoblyn
- Date:
- 1859
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A Dictionary of terms used in medicine and the collateral sciences / by Richard D. Hoblyn. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library at Emory University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library, Emory University.
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![ABI ] from). A deviation from the natural state, as applied to the miad. Also, a deviation of the rays of light from the true focus of reflection or refraction, in certain lenses. ABIES (abeo, quod in coelum longe abeat). The Fir; a genus of plants of the order Conifercs, abounding in resin. 1. Abietis resina. L. Resin of the Spruce Fir ; formerly called thus or frankincense; spontaneous exudation from the tree. 2. Pix abietina. L. Pix Burgundica. [3. Pix Canadensis. Canada pitch.] 4. Pix liquida. Tar. [q. v.] 5. Pix nigra. Black pitch, [q. v.] 6. Tar-water. A solution of tar in wa- ter, having a sharp empyreumatic taste. 7. Abietic acid. An acid lately disco- vered in the resin of trees of the genus Abies. The old preparation, termed aci- dum abietis, is the peculiar acid liquor, yielded along with the essential oil, in dis- tillation of the first branches or fruit of some species of Abies. [ABIRRITATION {ah, priv.; irrita- tio, irritation). Literally, absence of irritation. This term was used by Brous- sais and his school to denote a diminution of the vital phenomena in the different tis- sues.] ABLACTATION (ab, from; lacto, to give suck). This term denotes the cessa- tion of the period of suckling, as regards the mother. The same period, with regard to the infant, is termed weaning. [ABLATION (aufero, to remove). For- merly employed in a very extensive signi- fication, and expressed the subtraction of whatever was in excess, in the body; the reduction of regimen ,• and the diminution of the mass of blood, by bleeding, &c. Its meaning has been much restricted in mo- dern times, and it is now principally used in surgery, as a generic term, expressive of all cases where a part is taken away. It includes two species, Amputation and Extirpation.~\ ABLEPSIA (a, priv.; PXenia, to see). Blindness; privation of sight. ABLUENTS (abluo, to wash away). Medicines formerly supposed to cleanse the blood, by washing away impurities. ABNORMAL (ab, from; norma, a rule). Irregular; that which deviates from the usual order. The term anormal is also employed to denote any thing that is with- out rule or order. The terms are nearly nynonymous, ABOMA'SUM (ab. dim.; omasum., the paunch). The fourth stomach of the Bu- minantia. It is in this stomach of calves and lambs that rennet is formed. ABORTION (aborior, to die; to be born before the time). Miscarriage; the prema- l ABS ture expulsion of the foetus from the ute- rus. [ABORTIVES. Medicines supposed to act in a special manner on the gravid uterus, causing the expulsion of its con- tents.] ABRANCHIA (a, priv.; Ppdyxia, gills.) Animals which have no gills, or apparent external organs of respiration, but respire by the entire surface of the skin, or by in- ternal cavities; as the earthworm, the ABRASION (abrado, to shave off). The act of wearing or rubbing off, as the me- chanical removal of the epidermis. Also, the matters abraded by the friction of sur- faces of bodies. ABRUS PRECATORIUS. Jamaica or Wild Liquorice, a leguminous plant. Its polished and parti-colored seeds, called jumble beads, were formerly employed for rosaries, necklaces, <fcc. ABSCESS (abscedo, to separate). Apo- stema. An imposthume, gathering, or boil; a collection of pus formed or deposited in some tissue or organ. It is so named from the separation of the sides of the cavity which is produced. Where the skin is most thin, and fluctuation most palpable, the abcess is said to point, or to make its point. [ABSCISSION (abscidere, to cut off). The cutting away of a part, more especially of a soft part. This is the only significa- tion in which it is at present employed, though formerly used in several others.] [ABSINTHIN. The resin of the Absin- thium.'] ABSINTHIUM (a priv.; ^ivdos, plea- sure ; so named from its unpleasant taste). Common Wormwood; a species of Arte- misia, yielding a bitter resin, termed absin- thin. Infused in ale, it forms the beverage known by the name of purl. Its powers as a vermifuge have gained for it the name wormwood. [ABSOLUTE (absolvo, to finish). Free from anything else; pure. Absolute alco- hol, alcohol free from water.] ABSORBENTS (absorbeo, to suck up). Two distinct sets of vessels, which absorb and convey fluids to the thoracic duct. These are the lacteals, which take up the chyle from the alimentary canal; and the lymphatics, which pervade almost every part of the body, which they take up in the form of lymph. [In Materia Medica, this term has been applied: —1st. To those articles which, when internally administered, have the property of chemically combining with, and thus, neutralizing the acid secretions produced in certain morbid conditions of](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2103753x_0023.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
