A probationary essay on cancer : submitted ...to the examinationof the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh ... / by George Johnston ... March 1824.

  • George Johnston
Date:
1824
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A probationary essay on cancer : submitted ...to the examinationof the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh ... / by George Johnston ... March 1824. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    bands are very apparent, they follow no regular course, and present no definable figure. When the tumour is examined at a still later period, when it has advanced to what may be called can¬ cerous suppuration, we find “ in the centre a % small irregular cavity, filled with a bloody fluid, the edges of which are ulcerated, jagged, and spongy. Beyond these there is a radiated appear¬ ance of ligamentous bands, diverging towards the circumference, but the tumour, near the circum¬ ference, is more compact, and is made up of dis¬ tinct portions, each of which has a centre, sur¬ rounded by ligamentous bands, in concentric cir¬ cles Such is a succinct account of its most common appearance, and to specify the various anomalies which have been observed is foreign to my purpose. The septa, or transverse and con¬ centric lines, have in general been said to be liga¬ mentous or cartilaginous, but these terms, proba¬ bly, are used more in the way of comparison, to convey some idea of their “ outside show ” to the naked eye, than as intimating that they really possess the intimate structure, and chemical qua¬ lities, of ligament or cartilage. Dr Adams be¬ lieves they have a muscular power f; and of their * Home’s Observations on Cancer, p. 157-8-9. t Observations on*the Cancerous Breast, p. 44.
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