Observations on the causes and treatment of ulcerous diseases of the leg / by J.C. Spender.

Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the causes and treatment of ulcerous diseases of the leg / by J.C. Spender. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    produce the varicose condition ; all that the position or locality of the limb ever does is to make the leg more susceptible to their agency, as well as to perpetuate the evil when once it is formed. It is the combined result of the prevalence of these causes, and of the existence of this susceptibility, in relation to the leg, which accounts for the great frequency of varicose veins in the lower extremity, when compared with the upper. I have then to prove, in this place, that the legs are subject to a depraved character of their superficial structures; and that the liability the limbs liave to form sores ought to be referred to this deviation from their natural state. This, if established, will explain the reason why some legs are so ready to ulcerate, either spontaneously, or from the most insignificant injury, whilst others show no such danger, though exposed to the same or even greater exciting causes ; a fact wholly inexplicable by the usual solutions. It likewise offers to our notice a positive and defined cause of the evil, against which we may direct our efforts, and employ our remedies. The doctrine is indeed of such great importance, from the precision and assistance which it gives to our treatment, that I shall occupy some little time in describing the origin, nature, and extent of the unhealthy con- dition to which I allude. When the body is in the erect position, the