Surgery : its theory and practice / by William Johnson Walsham.

  • William Walsham
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Surgery : its theory and practice / by William Johnson Walsham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    most trifling- irritaticju, as friction, tension, or pressure, is then sufficient to keep such, inflammation up. The causes of the condition known as the strumous diathesis arc hardly known, but it is thought to be here- ditary, and has been attributed to bad h)-gienic conditions of all kinds, as imjmre air, dark and damji dwellings, improper or insufficient food, &c. It is said to be espe- cially common in childi'en born of dyspeptic or phthisical, or very young or very old parents. Syphilis in the parent is also believed by some to bo a cause. Si/mjitoms.—The general symptoms -u-hich are usually regarded as strumous, iiTespectivc of any of the local lesions, as enlargement of the tonsils or of the lympathic glands, eczematous eruptions of the skin, disease in the bones or joints, and catarrh of the mucous membranes, are thus given by Sir William Savory, who speaks of two chief forms of the diathesis:—In the first cUstinguished as the saiif/uineous or serous, there is a general want of muscular development; for although the figure may be sometimes plump and full, the limbs are soft and flabby; the skin is fair and thin, showing the blue veins beneath it; the features are very delicate; often a brilliantly transparent rosy colour of the cheeks contrasts strongly and stiikingly with the sui'rouuding pallor; the eyes grey or blue, are large and humid, with sluggish pupils sheltered by long silken lashes ; hair fine, blonde, auburn, or red ; teeth ^\-hite and often brittle ; there is frequently a fulness of the upper lip and iihv nasi; the ends of the fingers are comnmnly broad, with convex nails bent over their ex- tremities. Such persons usually possess much energy and sensibility, with elasticity and buoyancy of spirits; they often possess, too, considerable beaiity. In this variety, with the same deHcacy, the skin and eyes are sometimes dai'k. In the second, distingmshod'as the phletpniUic or mcIuiicJiolic, the skin, pale or dark, is thick, muddy, and often harsh, the general aspect dull and heavy; hair dark and coai-se; the mind is often, but not always, slow and sluggish. Children especially, in AvhouL the (liiithesis is strongly marked, are often distin- guished by the narrow and pi'omiiient chest, the tumid and prominent abdonuui; and the ]iaste-like cumpiexion ; the limbs are wasted; the circulation languid; cliilblains are c()innion on the extremities; the nuicous membraniis ]iarticularly, and above all of them the digestive, nro liable to njorljid action ; the breath is ol'U'u sour and
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