On the extent of the pleura above the clavicle / by C.E. Isaacs.

  • Isaacs, C. E. (Charles Edward), 1811-1860.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the extent of the pleura above the clavicle / by C.E. Isaacs. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/20 (page 6)
    vening tissues, and the height and width of the pleura readily ascertained and measured. In cases where there was any doubt or difficulty in gaining the measurement, I passed with one hand long needles, firmly fixed in handles, downwards and backwards through the integ¬ uments, so as to strike the superior and lateral edges of the pleural sac, while, with the fingers of the other hand intro¬ duced into the pleural cavity, I ascertained that the needles were correctly placed. By these methods there could hardly be a possibility of error in the measurements. As the superior part of the pleural sac is generally prolonged above the first rib and clavicle, in a dome-like form, the measurements were accordingly taken with reference to its shape, and so as to ascertain the following points : 1. The height of the sternal or inner edge of the pleura above the clavicle. 2. The height of its central portion. 3. The height of its outer edge. 4. The distance of the sternal or inner edge of the pleura from the median line. 5. The distance of the outer edge of the pleura from the median line. [Several diagrams, and dried and recent preparations from the dead subject, were here exhibited.] I recorded each observation in a book, and cautiously abstained from reading, or comparing what I had written, until I had obtained the desired number of one hundred cases. This was done in order that I might not be influenced in my measurements by any preconceived notions; and I may add that some of the conclusions, to which it was impossible to arrive until after a long and tedious reckoning up of the whole number of observations, were entirely different from what I had anticipated. I have made a table of the one hundred cases, copied from the record: