428 ANDRONOMY. 



To this section belongs the treatment of hernia, or rupture ; in which 

 some of the viscera are protruded from their natural cavity ; producing 

 tumors, and sometimes dangerous consequences. This disease may 

 often be cured by a truss, exerting mechanical pressure, to keep the 

 parts in place. Here also we may speak of tumors of the blood ves- 

 sels ; as aneurism, or the unnatural enlargement of an artery in some 

 part ; and varix, or varicose aneurism, which is the similar enlarge- 

 ment of a vein. Aneurism is generally best cured by passing a 

 ligature around the artery ; which is thus obliterated, and the wound 

 allowed to heal. Ecchymosis, is the effusion of blood, from a vein 

 or artery, into the surrounding cellular tissue: but this blood is, in 

 general, easily absorbed and removed. 



Abscesses, or swellings, usually result from, or are connected with, 

 inflammation : and they sometimes require to be opened with a sharp 

 instrument, to remove the purulent matter, or to allay pain. If they 

 cannot be removed by friction, or cooling applications, at an early 

 stage, then suppuration is necessary to their cure ; and they are then 

 called ulcers. A sore which remains for a long time without either 

 healing or spreading, is called an indolent or callous ulcer; but one 

 which continues to spread and corrode the flesh is called a malignant 

 or phagadenic ulcer ; of which class is the cancer. Ulcers, unless 

 produced by wounds or bruises, indicate a morbid or indolent state 

 of the system : and they require various treatment ; either soothing, 

 as by poultices, lint, and cooling applications ; or stimulating, as by 

 mercurial or styptic applications ; or sometimes they require cauter- 

 izing, either with escharotics or the actual cautery. The moxa, used 

 as a cautery, is made of cotton, immersed in a solution of nitre, then 

 rolled up in a small mass, and when dry, burnt in contact with the 

 part which is to be cauterized. When ulcers heal by a healthy 

 action, they are said to granulate; the forming of new flesh being 

 termed granulation. 



To this division of Surgery, also belongs the treatment of mal- 

 formations; or natural defects and deformities, which admit of 

 surgical remedies. Many of these can be obliterated by proper 

 operations ; especially if attended to in the vigor of youth, when 

 nature exerts the greatest recuperative power. Among them, we 

 would mention curvature of the spine ; and especially loxarthrus, 

 or club-foot, consisting in an irregular growth or developement, and 

 hence an unnatural shape, of that important member. The applica- 

 tion of pressure, by preventing the growth in a wrong direction, and 

 promoting it in a right one, is among the remedies proposed for this 

 deformity. 



3. Under the head of Topical Surgery, we would comprise the 

 surgical treatment of diseases of the eye, the ear, and the teeth; 

 which, from their difficulty, and importance, have been separated, in 

 large cities, from general surgery, and assigned respectively to the 

 Oculist, the Aurist, and the Dentist. The diseases of the eye, re- 

 quiring the attention of the Oculist, are numerous, and sometimes 

 difficult to discover. Among them, is ophthalmia, or inflammation 

 of the eye, farther distinguished according to the part most affected ; 

 also hydr ophthalmia, or dropsy of the eye ; albugo, or leucoma, 



