OPEKATIONS ON THE FOOT 91 



favourite mode of applying dressings is by means of the 

 syringe, and no better instrument for all cases can be found 

 than that known as a quittor syringe (Fig. 56). 



A further mode of applying dressing, and one frequently 

 practised in connection with the foot, is known as ' plug- 

 ging.' This is almost sufficiently indicated by its name. 

 It consists in rolling portions of the dressing into little 

 cylinders, wrapped round with thin paper, and introduced 

 into a sinus or other position where considered necessary. 



D. PLANTAR NEURECTOMY. 



As a last resort in the treatment of many diseases of the 

 foot the operation of neurectomy is often advised. It will 

 be wise, therefore, to insert a description of the operation 

 here. 



Derivation of the Word.- — For many years the operation 

 was known simply as * nerving ' or ' unnerving,' and it was 

 not until 1823, at the suggestion of Dr. George Pearson, 

 that Percival introduced the word neiirotomij to signify the 

 operation with which we are now about to deal. The word 

 neurotomy, however, used strictly, means the act or practice 

 of dissection of nerves, and, when applied to the operation 

 as practised to-day, describes only a step in the procedure. 



As the operation really consists in cutting down upon, 

 and afterwards excising a portion of the nerve, the modern 

 appellation of neurectomy — from the Greek neuron, a nerve ; 

 and tome, a cutting, signifying the cutting out of a nerve 

 or the portion of a nerve — ^is far more suitable. 



According as the nerve operated on is the plantar or 

 the median, the operation is known as plantar or median 

 neurectomy. 



History of the Operation.— It is to two English veteri- 

 narians that we owe the introduction of the operation to 

 the veterinary world. In 1819 Professor Sewell announced 

 himself as the originator of neurotomy. This claim was 

 disputed by Moorcraft, who appears to have successfully 

 shown himself to be the real person entitled to that 



