W H I 



W H I 



firmly condenfed, as not to permit the (kin to glide over 

 the fubjacent parts. The bone is not ufually found in a 

 carious ftate. 



According to the fame author, this fpecies of whitlow 

 is more frequently feen among the lower clafs of people, 

 when they labour under lues venerea, than in the higher 

 ranks of life. It does not appear to be connefted with any 

 particular ilate of the difeafe, nor is it confined to one fex 

 more than the other. In the Lock Hofpital, it is faid to 

 occur in the proportion of one patient in five hundred. 



In adopting the name oi venereal paronychia, Mr. Pearfon 

 informs us, that it is not with the defign of implying that 

 the cafe is a true venereal abfcefs, the matter of which is 

 capable of communicating fyphilis to a found perfon. Its 

 progrefs and cure, he obferves, feem to be unconnefted with 

 the increafed or diminifhed aftion of the venereal poifon in 

 the coiiftitution, and to be alfo unintluenced by the opera- 

 tion of mercury. Mr. Pearfon confiders the venereal 

 difeafe as a remote caufe, which gives occafion to the ap- 

 pearance of this as well as of feveral other difeafes, which 

 are widely different from its own fpecific nature. 



In the incipient ftate of the venereal whitlow, when no 

 fevere fymptoms are prefent, Mr. Pearfon thinks it beft 

 to ufe no external applications, and merely cover the part 

 with a bit of fine rag. The difeafe will then often gra- 

 dually difappear of itfelf, without coming to fuppuration. 

 When matter is formed, Mr. Pearfon fays, the abfcefs may 

 be permitted to burft fpontaneoufly. Every fpecies of 

 drefiing will frequently be found to give great pain, and dif- 

 agree with the fore. The fame writer, however, ftates, 

 that one application, compofed of equal parts of the balfam 

 of copaiva and tindura thebaica, may fometimes be ufed 

 with a good effeft. The principal objeft is to keep the 

 patient as eafy as poffible, by the internal ufe of opium, 

 until the (loughs are feparated, and the ulcer becomes clean. 

 It may then be treated as a common fore : Peruvian bark 

 will alfo be generally proper. In the thickened difeafed 

 ftate of the integuments, Mr. Pearfon condemns amputation, 

 as being likely to produce a ftump, which will change into 

 a fore, refembling that for which the operation was per- 

 formed. See Pearfon's Principles of Surgery, edit. 2. 



It is not at all clear to us, that Mr. Wardrop's cafe, which 

 he terms the onychia maligna, is not aftually the fame 

 difeafe as what Mr. Pearfon has named the venereal whit- 

 lowi The only doubt arifes from the former gentleman's re- 

 commending the exhibition of mercury as a means of cure ; 

 while the latter declares, that the complaint is quite unin- 

 fluenced by the operation of this medicine. We confefs, 

 that although fome hundreds of cafes of very bad whitlows 

 have fallen under our obfervation, we have never met with 

 any inftance in which the cure feemed to require mercury. 



Whitlow in the Feet of Sheep, in Rural Economy, a dif- 

 eafe that takes place in the latter end of fummer, and which 

 is more frequent among the long than the rtiort fort of ftieep. 

 It but feldom happens in clean (heep-walks, though it is 

 very troublefome on foft, dirty, pafture-lands. It is fre- 

 quently occafioned in the milking feafon, by the boughts 

 or folds being dirty, and by the ftieep being confined in the 

 old houfes. It is of the inflammatory nature, and com- 

 monly affefts the fore-feet, but fometimes all four. The 

 outer part of the hoof is '.the ufual feat of the difeafe, and 

 from the cleft a fharp fetid humour exudes, fometimes en- 

 gendering maggots, and corroding the flefh, nay even the 

 bone. All around the hoof there is an inflammation, which 

 turns black, and this part fometimes drops off. It is a very 

 painful affection, fo much fo, that the animal often crawls. 



As the weather gets more cold, it commonly becomes better, 

 but it ftill walks in a lame manner. 



On the appearance of the difeafe the foot is to be exa- 

 mined, and the difeafed part opened to let out the acrid, 

 matter. It is then to be waftied well, and dreffed with mer- 

 curial ointment and fulphur in mixture, or tar with red pre- 

 cipitate, binding it up with a flannel bandage, to preferve it 

 warm and clean. In cafe it does not take on fuppuration, 

 but degenerates into a foul and tedious ulcer, fuch applica- 

 tions as fpirit of turpentine and fulphuric acid may be pro- 

 per. And in all cafes the (heep fhould be kept in a clean, 

 eafy, dry pafture, until it becomes well. See FooT-iJo*. 



WHiTLOW-GrjT/}, or Mountain Knot-Grafs, in Botany. 

 See Paronychia, or Illecebrum. 



WHiTLOW-G/-fl/r is alfo a name given to forae fpecies 

 of draba. 



WmrLOW-GraJs, Rue-leaved, a fpecies of faxifrage. 

 WHITSTABLE, in Geography, a village and fea-port of 

 England, in Kent, near the mouth of the Swale. Here is 

 a confiderable oyfter-fifhery, which employs upwards of 

 70 boats. Some colliers likewife bring hither coals for Can- 

 terbury and the neighbourhood ; 7 miles N. of Canter- 

 bury. N. lat. 51° 22'. E.long. i°2'. 



WHITSUN Island, an ifland in the South Pacific 

 ocean, difcovered by ^captain Wallis on Whitfun-eve, in the 

 year 1767, about four miles long and three wide, furround- 

 ed by a reef. The boat's crew got fome cocoa-nuts, and 

 fome fcurvy-grafs : they met with none of the inhabitants, 

 but fome huts and feveral canoes building. No anchoring 

 place for the fhip could be difcovered. S. lat. 19° 26'. 

 W. long. 137° 56'. 



Whitsun, or Whitfunday Ifland, or Pentecofl, one of the 

 New Hebrides, in the South Pacific ocean, about thirty 

 miles in length, and eight in breadth. S. lat. 15° 44'. E. 

 long. 168° 20'. See Nenv Hebrides. 



Whitsun Farthings. See Pentecostals. 

 WHITSUNDAY'S Passage, in Geography, a ftrait 

 fo called by captain Cook, from the day on which he failed 

 through it, in 1770; between Cumberland ifland and the 

 coaft of New Holland. 



WHITSUNTIDE, the fiftieth day after Eafter. 

 The feafon properly called Pentecofl, is popularly called 

 Whitfuntide ; fome fay, becaufe in the primitive church, 

 thofe who were newly baptized came to church betweea 

 Eafter and Pentecoft, in ivhite garments. 



Whitsuntide Bay, in Geography, a bay on the north 

 coaft of the ifland of Kodiack, weft of Cape Whitfunday. 

 WHIT-TAWER, in Rural Economy, a provincial 

 term applied to a collar-maker for team-horfes. 



WHITTINGHAM, in Geography, a town of Vermont, 

 in the county of Windham, with 1 248 inhabitants ; 16 miles. 

 E. of Bennington. 



WHITTLE, a provincial name applied to a fort of j 

 pocket or fheathed knife. 



WHITTLEBURY Forest, in Geography;^ royal forefl 

 of England, in Northamptonfhire. 



WHITTLESEA Mere, a lake of England, in theJ 

 county of Huntingdon, formed by a branch of the riverl 

 Nen, fituated to the S.E. of Peterborough. 



WHITTLESEY, or Whittlesea, a town in the north 

 part of the hundred of Witchford, Ifle of Ely, and county^ 

 of Cambridge, England, is fituated on the confines of' 

 Northamptonfliire and Lincolnfhire, at the diftance of 10 

 mUes W.S.W. from the town of March, and 5 miles E.by 

 N. from Peterborough. It contains two parifhes, St. 

 Mary's and St. Andrew's ; but their boundaries cannot be 

 1 1 diftinftly 



