On the nature and treatment of the deformities of the human frame : being a course of lectures delivered at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in 1843 ; with numerous notes and additions to the present time / by W.J. Little.

  • William Little
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the nature and treatment of the deformities of the human frame : being a course of lectures delivered at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in 1843 ; with numerous notes and additions to the present time / by W.J. Little. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

    403/446 (page 387)
    Allied to this means is the acquirement of the hahit of rest- ing the body upon the limb opposite to that generally em- ployed by weakly children. It is worthy of remark, that lounging, idle corporeal habits of youth, besides the evi- dence afforded of ill-regulated mind, are often a sure index of physical disorder, either of direct weakness, or of indi- rect debility from overloaded alimentary canal, constipa- tion, errors of diet, want of relation between the hours of repose and exercise, &c. The mind is often, thereforej but secondarily affected. 10. The topical application of medicinal agents, such as embrocations, lotions, saline solutions, sea-water, hold a subordinate place in therapeutics, and their modus operandi and precise value do not require consideration in this place. 11. Electricity. The small estimation in which this potent agent should therapeutically be held has already been alluded to when treating of the means generally appli- cable to deformities, p. 45. Like the majority of paralytic and spasmodic deformities, though proceeding from a dif- ferent source, lateral deformity of spine is not merely a local affection, and therefore it is not capable of being cured by a merely local remedy.] The indications of treatment of lateral spinal curvature may be arranged under three heads : the first in importance consists in endeavouring to remove the primary cause of the deformity —debility, by improving the constitutional powers of the individual; in the second rank may be placed the application of mechanical means adapted to pre- vent the increase and to remove existing deformity ; and the third indication consists in application of means to act dynamically on the spinal column, such as exercises. It is unnecessary to devote more time to a description of the measures calculated to improve the general health: food in proper quantity and quality, good air, moderate bodily exercise, the exhibition of steel, iodine, vegetable