A memoir on indolent ulcers, and their surgical treatment / by John Gay.

  • Gay, John, 1812-1885.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A memoir on indolent ulcers, and their surgical treatment / by John Gay. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    mence, independently of its commencing at the edge. Hence, the surfaces of ulcers, which consist of skin tissue, are observed constantly to cicatrize in all parts simultaneously; or, in isolated spots or islets, where the skin has been, in greater part but not entirely destroyed. Hence, also, in these superficial or skin- sores (as they should be called), it is only necessary, at times, to call the dormant energies of their surface- tissue into action by a blister, or some such irritant, and reparation will commence at once and from every point. This fibre-making process at the extreme edge of the sore takes place concurrently with contraction of that edge in such a manner that the sore o’ra- dually lessens in size, and is ultimately closed in; but by a cicatrix of less dimensions than those of the original sore. Mr. Hunter did not satisfy his mind as to the relation between these processes, for he did not determine the precise nature of the changes by which the former is accomplished. His statement is, “ Skin is a very different substance, with respect to texture, from the granulations upon which it is formed; but whether it is an addition of new matter, viz., a new- formed substance upon the granulations being produced by them, or a change in the surface of the granulations themselves, is not easily determined. One would at first be inclined to the former of these opinions, as we have a clearer idea of the formation of a new substance than such an alteration in the old.” Contraction of the edge is due to the consolidation