The seven books of Paulus Ægineta, volume 2 (of 3) : $b translated from the Greek: with a commentary embracing a complete view of the knowledge possessed by the Greeks, Romans, and Arabians on all subjects connected with medicine and surgeryPaulus, Aegineta
History
The seven books of Paulus Ægineta, volume 2 (of 3) : $b translated from the Greek: with a commentary embracing a complete view of the knowledge possessed by the Greeks, Romans, and Arabians on all subjects connected with medicine and surgery
Paulus, Aegineta
Medicine; Medicine, Arab; Medicine, Greek and Roman
When the skin adjacent to an ulcer is not united with the parts below,
we call such a complaint a sinus. When, therefore, the sinus extends
upwards, the ichor readily flows out from the sore, and adhesion easily
takes place; but when it extends downwards the ichor by remaining within
corrodes the continuous parts, and unless you first make an incision
for its discharge, you will be able to effect nothing; for the sores
can neither be incarnated nor the parts made to unite. But if the sinus
is in any of the limbs, as the arms or legs, one may produce adhesion
without a counter-division by putting the limb in a declining position.
Thus when the sinus is in the arm, and the mouth of the sore is near the
elbow, by placing the hand in an elevated position, you will render the
discharge from the ulcer below easy. And when the sinus is in the thigh,
and has its outlet near the knee, you must make the position declining
by putting a soft pillow below the back part of the knee, so that the
groin may be in a lower position than the knee; and if the sinus does not
require incarnation, forthwith by means of a straight and hollow pipe
having a bladder attached to it, syringe it with honey so diluted with
water that one could drink it, in order to clear away the ichor from the
sinus. For promoting adhesion when about to take place, do it with wine,
or wine and honey, and then proceed to the agglutinating medicine. But
if the sinus being hollow requires incarnation, first inject a little
of the composition from dried paper with much rose-oil, then plug up
the mouth of it with charpie, and afterwards the plaster of iris, or of
Machærion, or of some such, may be melted with liquid rose-cerate, and
injected in like manner. If the sinus is moderately incarnated you may
apply some of the agglutinating medicines, as if you were curing a case
of recent bloody wound. Such are those called the barbarous, dichromos,
and gilvus; and more especially that prepared from the oil of palma
Christi and the metals without wax which is called the dun plaster of
Galen, is applicable. After the application of the medicine, a recent
sponge out of wine and honey, or wine alone, is to be put on particularly
in a soft manner, and the bandaging is to commence at the bottom of the
sinus and end at its orifice. The folds of the bandage should bind the
bottom of the sinus firmly, yet so as not to occasion pain, but ought to
be gradually relaxed towards its orifice; and the plaster which is put
on should be so cut as to leave an opening at the orifice for the escape
of the matter, but another small plaster of the same materials should be
applied to it in a loose state, so as to favour the discharge. This is to
be left on till the bandages are loosed, which is to be done on the third
day, when they are to be taken off and changed, but the application along
the sinus is to be left. You may judge whether the bottom of the sinus
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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