Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Cancer : its nature and treatment / by John Pattison. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![serioaa cause of Sometimes not till tlie third; and should haviifff an°erear ^ serious question in those fami- farj-Taint. lieg t]mg afflicted, whether or no some means should not be taken to destroy the tendency existing, before the disease itself actually appears ? This certainly can, in a great measure, be done by proper medicine, diet, etc., etc. In cancer of the tongue, the general exciting cause is irritation, produced by a tooth. Mismanagement and ^iolence during childbirth often give rise to ulceration, degenerating into cancer of the womb; and a blow or injury on the breast is in many cases the exciting cause of cancer in that region. It is a well-known fact, that in times of great commercial distress, cancer of the stomach becomes very common; the mind distressed acting upon the digesting organs, is in many instances the exciting cause for the appearance of this form of the disease. IVere not distress and mortification the exciting cause of this same disease which destroyed the first Emperor Xapoleon, when confined in St Helena ? Change of life in the female often calls forth this plague, which until that period may have lurked unsuspected in the system. I have also found the disease arising in no less than five cases out of one hundred from mismanagement of the breast in nursing. This is frequently the case with young mothers, who too often follow the advice of their ignorant nurses, instead of consulting the accoucheur. It is a common thing with these sac/es femmes” to rub and pinch the distended breast, often causing thereby an amount of inflammation productive of the most serious consequences. The following case came under my owm observation some months ago. Mrs F., (case cxv.) a young married lady, was confined of her second child, in June,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22396263_0013.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
