34 SURGERY. 



MOLLITIES OSSIUM. 



This is a deficiency of the earthy matter of bones, and hence 

 they are soft and pliable. This disease occurs in adults, and its course 

 is rapid ; the general health is impaired ; flesh, spirits, and strength, 

 diminish daily. The bones are light, soft and greasy, and often 

 consist of an external shell, filled with a soft, greasy matter. The 

 cause is obscure ; phosphatic deposits are found in the secretions. 



Treatment, — This is merely palliative, for the disease is in- 

 curable. 



RICKETS. 



This is an original defect of the skeleton, peculiar to youth and 

 scrofulous temperaments. The bone is changed in its structure, be- 

 coming soft and pliable, as in mollities ossium. The cancellated 

 structure predominates, the cells being filled with a reddish oily fluid. 

 The flat bones are often thickened, and the long bones atrophied in 

 the shaft. This disease gradually increases with age, and hence 

 great deformity, and curvatures of limbs must necessarily occur. 

 In adult life, thfe general health may be regained, and the patient, 

 though a confirmed and unseemly dwarf, weak and puny in his boy- 

 hood, may prove a healthy, muscular, and active man. 



Treatinent. — Improvement of the general system by diet, exercise, 

 proper clothing, and tonics. Mechanical apparatus, properly con- 

 structed, may be of service in preventing permanent deformity. 

 Those articles of diet which are readily converted into lactic acid, 

 such as sugar, starch, gum, milk, &c., should be avoided, and animal 

 food of easy digestion preferred. 



SPINA VENTOSA. 



This is a swelling, usually of considerable extent, involving the 

 whole circumference of the bone, and has a regular surface. In 

 most instances, it is a bony shell, containing one or several cavities, 

 filled with an ichorous fluid, clotted blood, and portions of carious 

 bone. It is preceded by severe pain, and external injuries and 

 constitutional causes may give rise to it. It is difficult to cure, 

 especially in adults. 



Treatment. — When the tumour is small, the cure is to be efl^ected 

 by means of puncture, satisfactory evacuation, external support, and 

 internal stimulation of the cavity. If the tumour is large, and the 

 general health affected, amputation will be necessary. 



OSTEO-SARCOMA. 



This is a tumour, composed partly of bone and partly of flesh, and 

 is usually considered of a malignant nature. A. dissection of the 

 tumour presents a dense, pearl-coloured membrane, covering the 



