CLASS. I. 1. 3. 11. OF IRRITATION. 37 



the handles of which might consist of joints to permit them to 

 bend in all directions, and thus the stone might be broken to 

 pieces by a few trials; or if it was soft or fragile stone, the re- 

 traction of the wire-bow might divide it at every trial, till it be- 

 came almost reduced to powder. A little mechanical ingenuity 

 might be necessary in the construction and use of this machinery; 

 but I believe it not to be impracticable, since I read the above 

 account of Colonel Martin, though I had often before thought of 

 it with despair of its successful application. 



Lithotomy is the last resource. Will the gastric juice of ani- 

 mals dissolve calculi? Will fermenting vegetable juices, as 

 sweet- wort, or sugar and water in the act of fermentation with 

 yeast, dissolve any kind of animal concretions? 



1 i . Calculus arthriticus. Gout-stones are formed on inflamed 

 membranes, like those of the kidneys above described, by the 

 too hasty absorption of the thinner and saline parts of the mucus. 

 Similar concretions have been produced in the lungs, and even 

 in the pericardium; and it is probable that the ossification, as it 

 is called, of the minute arteries, which is said to attend old age, 

 and to precede some .mortifications of the extremities, may be a 

 process of this kind. 



As gout-stones lie near the surface, it is probable, that ether, 

 frequently applied in their early state, might render them so li- 

 quid as to permit their re-absorption; which the stimulus of the 

 ether might at the same time encourage. 



12. Rheumatismus chronicus. Chronic rheumatism. After the 

 acute rheumatism some inspissated mucus, or material similar to 

 chalk-stones of the gout, which was secreted on the inflamed 

 membrane, is probably left, owing to the too hasty absorption of 

 the thinner and saline part of it; and by laying on the fascia, 

 which covers some of the muscles, pains them, when they move 

 and rub against it, like any extraneous material. 



The pain of the shoulder, which attends inflammations of the 

 upper membrane of the liver, and the pains of the arms, which 

 attend asthma dolorificum, or dropsy of the pericardium, are dis- 

 tinguished from the chronic rheumatism, as in the latter the pain 

 only occurs on moving the affected muscles. 



M. M. Warm bath, cold bath, bandage of the emplastrum de 

 monio put on tight, so as to compress the part. Cover the part 

 with flannel. With oiled silk. Rub it with common oil fre- 

 quently. With ether. A blister. A warmer climate. Vene- 

 section. A grain of calomel and a grain of opium for ten suc- 

 cessive nights. The Peruvian bark. 



13. Cicatrix vulnerum. The scar after wounds. In the 

 healing of ulcers the matter is first thickened by increasing the 



