504 DESCRIPTION OF AN ERECTILE TUMOUR. 



XXXIV. DESCRIPTION OF AN EEECTILE TUMOUR* 



THIS tumour occurred in the foot of an infant five months 

 old, which was amputated by Mr. Syme. A fine injection of 

 size and vermilion having been thrown into the arteries of the 

 foot, the skin assumed a red tint, except where it was so 

 attenuated as to display the peculiar bluish colour of the 

 subjacent diseased mass. 



It was then cut longitudinally into two portions, A gush 

 of venous blood reduced its size very considerably. By means 

 of a gentle stream of water, the rest of the contained blood 

 was washed out, all pressure being avoided. 



The two halves were then laid in a basin of spirit, and by 

 means of a syringe that fluid was forced into the diseased 

 mass, so as to distend the whole almost to its original size. 



After having been hardened, fresh longitudinal sections 

 were made, avoiding all pressure, and the structure was 

 examined. 



The venae saphense, plantar, and posterior tibial veins were 

 much enlarged, and had undergone a peculiar change, which 

 consisted of increased bulk of the fibrous fasciculi of their 

 coats, and of longitudinal and oblique foldings of the parietes, 

 due partly to the fasciculation partly to actual involution. 



About the centre of the foot the veins broke up into the 

 general cellular arrangements which constituted the disease, 

 the saphense forming a sort of central cavity on the dorsum, 

 the plantar a much larger cavity or central areola in the sole 

 of the foot. 



The diseased mass itself consisted of areolse, which de- 



* Cormack's Monthly Medical Journal, 1845, p. 342. 



