Volume 1

The New Sydenham Society's lexicon of medicine and the allied sciences : (based on Mayne's Lexicon) / by Henry Power and Leonard W. Sedgwick.

  • Henry Power
Date:
MDCCCLXXXI [1881]-MDCCCXCIX [1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The New Sydenham Society's lexicon of medicine and the allied sciences : (based on Mayne's Lexicon) / by Henry Power and Leonard W. Sedgwick. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    68/812
    ACTUARIUS—ACUS. hot iron, or other substance, or fire, used as a cautery, because having an immediate power iuherent in it, in distinction from caustic sub- stances which are termed potential cauteries; also called Ignis actualis. The instrument should be at a white heat and drawn quickly and lightly over the skin, so as to form a superficial eschar. A method of treatment of great value in chronic joint affections, neural- gise, and myalgise. See Moxa. Actua'rius. A title of dignity originally given tolhe Byzantine physicians, corresponding to the present title of physician-in-ordinary. (Dunglison.) Actua'tion. {Ago, to do, or perform.) A psychological term intended to designate the de- partment of mental function that intervenes be- tween the impulse of will to do a particular act and the actual muscular performance of it—in other words, to denote the play of the conception of the purpose of the definite movement, or the motor intuition of it, through which the will is enabled to put in action the proper muscles to execute it. Formerly this term was used to denote the change supposed to be produced by the vital heat in a medicine when taken into the body, without which no effect would be obtained. iLc'tUS. Parturition. (D.) Actyn'olite. ('Aktis, a ray; XtSos, a stone.) A dark-green mineral allied to horn- blende, consisting of radiating crystals. It con- tains silica, magnesia, lime, protoxide of iron, with traces of magnesia and fluoric acid. Acuduc'tor. {Acus, a point; duco, to lead.) A grooved director. Acuit'ion. (L. acm, to sharpen.) An old term intended to describe the action of medi- cines which are added to others of like but weaker nature, in order to increase their power. Acu'lty. (Actio, to sharpen. F. acuite; G. Schdrfe.) Term for acrimony. Aculea'taa A term employed to designate the Hystrieidce or Family of porcupines. Also a Group of Hymenoptera including ants, bees, and wasps. Aculeate, (^m^^ws, a prickle. aiguille; epineux; G. dornig.) Having prickles, or sharp points; prickly. Acule'ifbrm. (Amleus; /orma, likeness. ¥. aculeiforme ; G. stachelformig.) Formed like a prickle or thorn. Applied to scales of fishes formed like curved points, as of Diodon atinga ; to tubercles on shells; and to shells themselves which are small and pointed at the spire. Acules'cent. (L. aculeus, a spine.) Ap- plied to an acute and rigid hair on other organs, and ending in a sharp point. Acu'leus. (Acus, a needle. F. aiguillon ; e2)ine; G. Dorn, Stachel.) A prickle or sharp body arising from the bark or epidermis of any part of a plant, and which may be peeled off with the bark. Also the ovipositor of the Hymenoptera. Acu'meter. See Acommeter. Acu'minate. {Acumen, a point. F. acumine; G. zu- or langgespitzt.) Pointed; ending in a point; tapered; tapering; applied to leaves, and leaf- stalks. Acuminif erous. {Acumen, a point; fcru, to bear. F. acuminif ere ; G. spitztragend.) Bearing points; applied to an animal whose body has small pointed tubercles, as Caprilla acumini- fera. Acuminifolious. {Acumen ; folium, a leaf. F. acuminifolie ; G. spitzbldttrig.) Having acuminated leaves. Acumin'ulate. Diminutive of Acu- minate. Having a shortly tapered point. AcUOpll'ony. (^Akovm, to hear; (^xhvy], voice.) An irregular spelling of Acouophony. See Acouophonia. Acupres'SUre. {Acus, a needle ; premo, to press.) A method of arresting haamorrhage, sug- gested by Professor Simpson, by means of the pres - sure of a needle. The needle, which should be long, sharp-pointed and headed, as well as rendered un- oxidisable, is passed through the tissues on one side of the vessel, in aneurism is made to cross over the vessel and at right angles to it, and then plunged into the tissues on the opposite side of it. The compression thus exerted stops the flow of blood, and as soon as coagulation has taken place, or at the close of the second day, the needle can be withdrawn, and the wound being freed from the presence of any foreign body, is placed under favourable conditions for healing. The advan- tages claimed for this method are that it is easy, simple, and expeditious, that the needles set up very little irritation, and hence lessen the chances of suppuration, gangrene, phlebitis, and pygemia. * Acupunc'ture. {Acus, a needle ; pungo, to prick. Y. acupunction ; (}. Nadelstich; 1. ago- puntura; S. acupuntura.) A method of treat- ing disease in which, the skin being made tense by stretching, one or more long steel needles are slowly passed through it with a rotatory motion to a variable depth in the neighbourhood of the affected parts. ' It has been long practised by the Chinese and Japanese, and was introduced'into European practice in 1683 by Dr. Ehyne, but fell into disuse, till Berlioz published his Memoirs in 1816, and has been recently employed in rheu- matic and neuralgic affections, paralyses, rebel- lious hiccough, odontalgia, gastralgia, sciatica, lumbago, and other foi-ms of myalgia, epilepsy proceeding from a fixed point, trismus, neuralgia of the testis,meteorism of the stomach and intestines; in ununited fractures, aneurism, varicose veins, hydrocele, oedema, and anasarca ; in visceral en- largements, as in those of spleen, and in amaurosis. Any of the tissues, muscles, nerves, vessels, heart, or intestines, may be simply perforated in this way by a fine needle without injury. It has, however, been used for the purpose of infanticide by penetrating the brain through the fontanelles. The mobility or immobility of the free portion of a long and slender needle introduced through the parietes of the chest into the substance of the heart affords a very certain means of establishing the persistence of life or the occurrence of death in case of trance, catalepsy, and the like. It has been used with some success, in combination with electricity, as a means of coagulating the blood in aneurisms, varicose enlargement of veins, and erectile tumours. Acureb. (Arab.) Vitrum, or glass. Acur'g'ia. Same as Acidurgia. A'CUS. {Acus, a needle; from its sharp points; Y. paille ; paillette ; (a. Spreubldttchen.) The refuse after winnowing corn; chaff. A'cus. ('AkIs, a point. F. aiguille; G. Nadel; Ndhnadel.) A needle, bodkin, or pin. A., cannula'ta. A trochar; a cannulated needle. A., interpuncto'ria. A couching needle. iA.. mosclia'ta. The Geranium mosehaium.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3