27S OBSERVAXrONS ON THE STRUCTyRfc OF THE TONGUE. 



in the following cafe of fungous excrefcence from the tongue, 

 which bled fo profufely as at times to endanger the patient's 

 life, and never allowed him to arrive at a ftate of tolerable 

 health, to attempt removing the part by ligatpre. 

 which when re- John Wejmoutl), eight years of age, was admitted into 

 Sre^bTvioleat St. George's hofpital, on the 24th of December, 1800, on ac- 

 l3«morrbage. count of a fungous excrefcence on the right fide of the anterior 

 part of the tongue, which extended nearly from the outer 

 edge to the middle line at the tip. It appeared, from the ac- 

 count of his relations, that the origin of this fungus exifted at 

 his birth, and had been increafing everfince. He had been a 

 year and a half under the care of the l^te Mr. Cruiklhank, 

 who had removed the excrefcence by ligature round its bafe ; 

 tut, when the ligature dropped off, a violent haemorrage took 

 place, and the excrefcence gradug,lly returned. Attempts 

 were made to dejlroy it by caufiic ; but haemorrhage always 

 followed the feparation of the Houghs ; fo that, after ten trials, 

 this mode was found inefFeclual. It was alfo removed by the 

 Jinife, ten different times, but always returned. 



From this hiilory I was led to believe, that the only mode 

 of removing the difefae was taking out the portion of the 

 tongue upon which it grew. This was a cafe in which I felt 

 myfelf warranted in making an attempt out of the commoi) 

 line of pradice, to give the patient a chance of recovery ; 

 and, from the preceding cafe, having found that preffure on 

 one part of the tongue produced no bad confequences on the 

 other parts, I was led to remove the excrefcence in the foL 

 lowing manner. 

 The portion of On the 28th of December, I made the boy hold out his 

 tongue reinoved tongue, and pafTed a crooked needle, armed with a double li- 

 : ^ , ^ * gature, directly through its fubftance, immediately beyond the 

 excrefcence. Th^ needle was brought out below, leaving 

 the ligatures ; one of thefe was tied very tight before the ex-. 

 crefcence, the other equally fo beyond it, fo that a fegment of 

 the tongue was confined between thefe two ligatures, in which 

 the circulation was completely flopped. The tongue was 

 thin in its fubfiance ; and the boy complained of little pain 

 during the operation. Thirty drops of laudanum were given 

 to him immediately after it, and he was put to bed. He fell 

 afleep, continued to dofe the greater part of the day, anc^ 

 j«k,as fo eafy the next day as to require no particular attention, 

 ''^^ ' On 



