On gout : its history, its causes, and its cure / by William Gairdner.

  • William Gairdner
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On gout : its history, its causes, and its cure / by William Gairdner. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    and strained, as the plantar muscle, the fascia covering the instep of the foot, the thumb, the fascia of the wrist, or the metatarsal and meta- carpal ligaments. These gouty pains at times yield to rest, and are sometimes driven off by violent exertion. When the patient has suffered repeated at- tacks of the disease, the effused fluids are im- perfectly absorbed. The solid and earthy matters remain behind, to form knotty excres- cences on and around the extremities of the bones, limiting the action of the joints. These tumours, called chalk-stones, are not painful, unless at the time of the paroxysm. When once formed, each successive attack of gout adds a layer of solid matter to that already deposited; and I have frequently observed these concretions grow much in size, though the patient may not have been conscious of the accession of any painful symptom. By the in- crease of the tumour, it invests the joint more and more, but it also approaches nearer and nearer the surface, till at last the thin film of skin covering the chalk-stone gives way, and the earthy deposit is exposed. Fistulous open- ings are then formed, and a fluid, containing much of the same earthy matter, mixed with a sanious discharge, is effused. This matter is
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