The laryngoscope : directions for its use, and practical illustrations of its value in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the throat and nose : two lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians / by George Johnson.

Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The laryngoscope : directions for its use, and practical illustrations of its value in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the throat and nose : two lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians / by George Johnson. 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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    liglit is obtained; but the objections to this mode of illumination are—-1st, that the apparatus is clumsy, and cannot easily be carried about; and, 2nd, the chief objection is that the direction of the light cannot be readily and instantaneously made to follow the movements of the patient^s head. The fact of the light moving with the movements of the operator, which some consider an objection to the method of illuminating the throat by means of the reflector on the forehead, does, in fact, constitute one of its chief advantages. With regard to the source of light, I find it not diSicult to see and to demonstrate my own larynx, as well as to examine the larynx of another, by the light of an ordinary candle; but a bright light of course renders the examination much easier and more satis- factory. The best artificial light is a moderator lamp, or an argand gas burner. The light may be much intensified by placing a metallic reflector behind the lamp, and a bulPs-eye condenser at the proper focal distance in front, the flat side of the lens being next the lamp. I find that with a single bulFs-eye conden- sor I get a better light than with Tobold^s condenser, which consists of three lenses in a brass tube, and which is a more cumbersome as well as a more costly apparatus. All observers agree in opinion that the light of the sun, when it can be obtained, is the best means of illuminating the throat. The patient sits with his back to the sun, and the operator directs the light into the throat by means of the reflector. For this purpose the reflector need not be concave; a flat sur- face will give sufiicient light. In using a concave