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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![AFFLUXUS {affluo, to flow to). Forma specified. Names given in former times to a supposed reciprocal influence of ter- restrial bodies; it was compared to the effect of a magnet on iron, and of amber on chaff. [In pathology it signifies the flow or de- termination of humours to a part.] AFFUSION (affundo, to pour upon). Generally, the pouring of water over the surface of the body, the head, Ac. There are different kinds of affusions, as— 1. Lotions, which consist in washing a part of the body with a sponge or rag soaked in a liquid. 2. Aspersions, which consist in throw- ing a liquid, drop by drop, like rain, upon the body. 3. Shower-baths, which consist in throw- ing a column of water with more or less violence upon the surface of the body. When water is thrown from a considerable height, this kind of affusion is termed by the French douche, or dash. AFTER-BIRTH. A term applied to the placenta and the membranes of the ovum, from their being expelled after the delivery of the foetus. AFTER-PAINS. A term applied to [the pains resulting from] the contractions of the uterus, which are continued for a certain length of time after delivery. AGALACTIA (a, priv.; ya'Aa, milk). The defect of milk after child-birth. AGAMOUS (a, priv.; yd^oi, marriage). Sexless; a term applied to the cryptoga- mous plants, from the notion that they possess no sexual characters. AGARICUS. Agaric; the generic name of the mushroom family: Order, Fungi; Class, Cryjitogamia. Agaricus Quercus. Boletus igniarius; Agaric of the Oak, or Touchwood; a fungus formerly used for arresting external haemorrhages. AGARICUS MINERALIS. The moun- tain milk or meal of the Germans; one of the purest of the native carbonates of lime, found in clefts of rocks, &c. It is named from its resemblance to an agaric in tex- ture and colour. AGATE. A hard siliceous stone, used by lapidaries for engraving seals, cameos, and other objects of ornament. It is com- posed chiefly of quartz with various colour- ing matters. [AGATHOSMA CRENATUM, Diosma crenata, Baroasma crenata. See Buchu.~\ [AGAVE AMERICANA. The Ameri- can aloe. It yields a saccharine sap which has been used against scurvy, and from it the alcoholic liquor called pulque is pre- pared.] 3* AGAVE CUBENSIS. A species of American aloe, the roots of which resemble the red sarsaparilla of the shops. AGEDOITE. A name erroneously given by Robiquet to the juice of the liquorice root, which is, in fact, asparagin. AGENNESIA (a, priv.; ytvvdu, to be- get). Male sterility; inability to beget offspring. As applied to the brain, it de- notes imperfect development and atrophy of that organ. AGENT {ago, to act). A substance ca- pable of producing chemical action. AGES OF LIFE. The periods of human life characterized by the most remarkable processes of development, or by their com- pletion, are the following :— 1. The period of embryonic life. During this period the processes of formation and growth are in their greatest activity. The organs which are forming present none of their functional phenomena, or only a gradual commencement of them. 2. The period of immaturity. This pe- riod extends from birth to puberty. It is marked by growth, by the development of the forms of the different parts of the body, and by the gradual perception and analysis, by the mind, of the different phenomena of the senses. The period of childhood comprises the first six years; that of boyhood extends to the fifteenth year. 3. The period of maturity. This period begins at puberty and ends at the period when the generative power is lost, which in woman occurs about the forty-fifth or fiftieth year. This period is distinguished into the ages of youth, and manhood or womanhood. 4. The period of sterility. This period extends from the cessation of the fruitful exercise of the generative function to ex- treme old age. Muller. AGEUSTLA (a, priv.; yeHofxai, to taste). Defect or loss of taste. [AGGLOMERATE {agglomero, to form into a heap). Synonymous with aggre- gate; applied to glands.] AGGLUTINATION (agglutino, to glue). Adhesive union; the adhesion of parts by means of a coagulating substance. See Adhesion. AGGREGATE {aggregates, herded to- gether). A body, or mass, made up of smaller bodies or masses. The smallest parts into which an aggregate can be di- vided without destroying its chemical pro- perties are called integrant parts. [In botany, this term signifies crowded together, as the florets of the compositae, the carpels of ranunculus, &c] AGGREGATION {aggrego, to bring to-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2103753x_0034.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
