Popliteal aneurism treated by a new method of compression / reported by A.F. Sawyer (by permission) at the meeting of the San Francisco (Cal.) Medical Benevolent Society, Feb. 21st, 1879.

  • Sawyer, A. F.
Date:
[1879]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Popliteal aneurism treated by a new method of compression / reported by A.F. Sawyer (by permission) at the meeting of the San Francisco (Cal.) Medical Benevolent Society, Feb. 21st, 1879. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    packing and loose tissue being removed as cleanly as practica- ble, sufficient of the adjoining tissues, muscles, etc., being pre- served to at once indicate to the observer the natural relation of the parts in situ. The aneurismal cavity, or the heart, or the larger vessels, as the case may be, is stuffed with curled hair or wool, such as is used by upholsterers ; the edges of the in- cision then stitched together to prevent shrinkage; and the whole allowed to dry by exposure to the air. Before drying, an arsenical bath for a few moments would prevent all danger from the ravages of insects. After the specimen is dried, it is varnished with lac varnish (a solution of the gum in alcohol), which makes a thin trans- parent and impervious coat, and hardens the tissues wonder- fully. Even when used on very fatty specimens the varnish hardens at once, so that they can be handled without greasing the fingers. The cabinet of the Society contains some very fine specimens of calcification of the valves of the heart, aorta, and aneurismal tumors in situ, in the tissues in which they have occurred, the calcareous plates being brought out in fine relief in the semi-translucency of the coats of the vessel.