TREPANNING TREVES. 



671 



suited in a silent approbation of the doctrinal de- 

 crees on the part of the Catholics, but has always 

 prevented the reception of the decrees of reforma- 

 tion, as irreconcilable with many laws of the re- 

 spective countries, although the real improvements 

 ordained were cheerfully received and put in execu- 

 tion. For the explanation and interpretation of 

 the decrees of this council, Sixtus V., in 1588, in- 

 stituted a council of cardinals, the continuation of 

 which was found necessary by his successors. The 

 works which have been written in support of, and 

 opposition to, the council of Trent, the last that 

 lias been held, are very numerous, and many exhibit 

 great talent. During the sessions of the council, 

 Calvin wrote his antidote against the council of 

 Trent, and, in 1560, when pope Pius VII. ordered 

 the reassembling of the council, the Lutheran princes 

 of Germany issued their Concilii Tridentini decretis 

 opposita Gravamina, and even down to recent times, 

 works have continued to be written on it, though 

 the notions of Protestants are now too well settled 

 to induce them to spend much time in refuting its 

 decrees. The fundamental error connected with 

 this council was, that Catholics and Protestants 

 could suppose it possible to reconcile their differ- 

 ences by means of a council, which could only bring 

 them out in stronger relief. It was, in fact, the 

 great mistake of the time to suppose that truth 

 could be settled by religious disputations. But, 

 though it is easy to see now that a union between 

 the Catholics and Protestants was impossible, it was 

 not easy to see it then ; and we can hardly blame 

 men for wishing to produce harmony in Christendom. 

 Even at a much later period, men like Leibnitz be- 

 lieved in the possibility of a reunion of the churches. 

 TREPANNING; the operation of opening the 

 skull, by means of a surgical instrument, adapted 

 for the purpose. The instrument used is called a 

 trepan, or trephine, and consists of a handle, to 

 which is fixed a circular saw, or hollow iron cylin- 

 der, of about an inch in diameter, called the crown, 

 from the centre of which projects a sharp perfora- 

 tor, called the centre-pin. The upper part of the 

 centre-pin screws into a hole at the top of the 

 crown ; its use is to steady the trepan before the 

 teeth of the saw have made a sufficient furrow to 

 prevent it from slipping ; for which purpose it is 

 pushed down below the level of the teeth of the 

 saw, and fixed in the centre of the bone to be re- 

 moved. The trephine differs from the trepan in 

 having its crown fixed upon and worked by a com- 

 mon transverse handle, like a gimlet, instead of be- 

 ing turned by a handle, like a wimble or centre-bit, 

 as is the case with the trepan. The former is used 

 in England : the latter is preferred by the surgeons 

 of continental Europe. The trephine performs only 

 a semicircular motion, imparted by the pronation 

 and supination of the hand, the teeth being so ar- 

 ranged as to cut, whether the instrument is turned 

 from right to left or the reverse. The trepan is 

 turned completely round and round on its own axis. 

 The operation is performed in the following man- 

 ner : The hair is first removed from the portion of 

 the skull to be taken out, and incisions, in the form 

 of a cross, or of the letter T or V, are made quite 

 through the scalp, in order to expose the bone. 

 The centre-pin is then fixed, the trephine or trepan 

 is put in motion, as above described, and the ope- 

 ration is continued until the bone is sawn through, 

 which is then removed by the forceps. The divided 

 scalp is finally placed, as nearly as possihle, in its 

 natural situation, and dressed. The aperture in 



the skull gradually becomes closed with soft granu- 

 lations, which slowly acquire a hard consistency. 

 Until this is the case, the patient must wear a thin 

 piece of horn, or plate of metal over the aperture. 

 The operation of trepanning is resorted to only for 

 the purpose of relieving the brain from pressure. 

 Such pressure may be caused by the depression of a 

 portion of the cranium, or it may be produced by 

 an extravasation of blood, or by the lodgment of 

 matter betwixt the skull and the dura mater, occa- 

 sioned by a blow upon the head, or the inflammation 

 of the membranes of the brain. 



TRESSAN, Louis ELISABETH DE LA VERGNE, 

 count of, was born in 1705, at Mans, went at an 

 early age to Paris, and became acquainted with 

 Voltaire, Fontenelle, and other celebrated men, by 

 whom he was confirmed in his love of literature. 

 In 1723, he entered the army, and afterwards tra- 

 velled in Italy. When the war broke out between 

 France and Austria, he was appointed aid-de-camp 

 to the duke de Noailles, with whom he was 

 at the siege of Kehl. He also distinguished him- 

 self at Esslingen and Philipsburg, in 1734. In 

 1741, he was employed in Flanders. In 1744, he 

 was made marechal-de-camp, and served at the 

 sieges of Monin, Ypres, and Fumes. He was aid- 

 de-camp to the king at the battle of Fontenoi, 

 where he was wounded. In 1750, he was ap- 

 pointed governor of Toulouse and French Lor- 

 raine, and, soon after, made grand marshal to the 

 ex-king of Poland, at Luneville, where he remained 

 till the death of that prince. In 1781, he was ad- 

 mitted into the French academy, and took up his 

 residence in Paris, where he died, October 31. 

 1783. He published a translation of the Orlando 

 Furioso of Ariosto, which, together with extracts 

 and translations of many other Italian and old 

 French romances, appeared in Les CEuvres Choisies 

 de Tressan (Paris, 178791, 12 vols., 8vo). He 

 also wrote Reflexions sur V Esprit ; Discours, pro- 

 noncS a I'Acad. de Nanci ; Elogies, &c. 



TREVES (in German, Trier; anciently, Au- 

 gusta Trevirorum) ; a city in the Prussian province 

 of the Lower Rhine, capital of a government of 

 the same name, formerly capital of an electorate 

 and archbishopric, on the Moselle ; Ion. 6 38' E. ; 

 lat. 49 47' N. ; population, 9608. It has a pic- 

 turesque situation in the centre of a large valley 

 lying along the Rhine, and open to the north-west 

 and south-east, but confined on the other sides by 

 gentle eminences covered with vines ; and the en- 

 virons abound with gardens. It contains the late 

 elector's palace, now converted into barracks, a 

 cathedral, nine churches, seven convents, three 

 hospitals, a lyceum, and a public library. A uni- 

 versity was founded here in 1454, but converted 

 by the French, in 1794, into a central school, now 

 styled a gymnasium. Treves is the most ancient, 

 and among the most celebrated, cities of Germany. 

 It contains many Roman antiquities : coins, medals 

 and inscriptions are frequently dug up ; and the re- 

 mains of the baths are extensive. The archbish- 

 opric of Treves was the oldest in Germany ; the 

 archbishop was the second elector of the empire, 

 and had the title of " arch-chancellor of the holy 

 Roman empire, for Gaul and Aries." By the 

 peace of Luneville (1801), Treves was annexed to 

 France, but, since the peace of Paris, has belonged 

 to Prussia. The gymnasium has a library of 70,000 

 volumes and 2000manuscripts. Amongthe churches, 

 that of Our Lady is one of the finest monuments of 

 German architecture. The arch called the black 



