Black's medical adviser for the home / by John D. Comrie.

  • Comrie, John D. (John Dixon), 1875-1939
Date:
1931
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Black's medical adviser for the home / by John D. Comrie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ABSCESS, CHRONIC ACIDS place ; and of hastening the forma¬ tion of an abscess cavity, and soften¬ ing the over-lying tissues if the latter process has already begun. When this happens, it may be necessary to lance the abscess. After the abscess is opened a simple wet dressing, of moist lint covered by gutta-percha tissue, and this again covered by absorbent wool (to absorb the remaining discharge) and a bandage, should be applied and changed daily. ABSCESS, CHRONIC.—A chronic abscess is one which takes weeks or months for its development, and is in the vast majority of cases tuber¬ culous. It is sometimes called a ‘ cold ' abscess. ABSORBENT VESSELS (see Lym¬ phatics). ABSORPTION (see Digestion). ACCOMMODATION is the faculty possessed by the eye of altering its refractive power so that rays of light, whether from a near or distant point, are brought accurately to a focus on the retina. It is effected by means of the elasticity of the crystalline lens. ACETABULUM is the cup-shaped socket on the pelvis in which rests the head of the femur or thigh-bone, the two forming the hip joint. (See Hip Joint.) ACETANILID, or Antifebrin, is a white crystalline powder often used in neuralgia and rheumatism in doses of 2 to 10 grs. ACETIC ACID, also called pyro¬ ligneous acid, is prepared in large quantities by the distillation of wood and subsequent separation from tar. In the pure form it is solid, being then known as glacial acetic acid. In strong solution acetic acid is used to destroy warts or raise blisters. In weak solution, or as vinegar, it is, taken internally, mildly astringent. It is used often to reduce obesity, but is apt to impair the digestion and cause anaemia. In cases of great and weakening sweating it is most useful, because, sponged over the skin, it checks perspiration and produces a sense of grateful coolness ; for this purpose a few tablespoonfuls of vinegar may be added to a quart of water. Used similarly it is good for headache. ACETONE is a substance found in the urine and on the breath in wasting conditions like cancer and severe dys¬ pepsia, and particularly in diabetes. ACIDITY.—This is a vague term, more used in popular language than in scientific medicine, and meaning that the reaction of the blood, or of one or more of the secretions, is less alkaline or more strongly acid than normal, while a considerable number of symp¬ toms is rightly or wrongly attributed to the condition. (See Dyspepsia.) ACIDOSIS is a general term for a group of diseased conditions which show the common feature of the pre¬ sence in the urine of acetone and allied bodies such as diacetic acid and oxybutyric acid. Symptoms.— General lassitude, vomiting without apparent cause, and the presence of the above-men¬ tioned substances in the urine form the slightest manifestations of the condition; in some children these attacks appear periodically, but the tendency to them passes off about the age of twelve or fourteen. In wasting diseases and in diabetes the condition may become serious ; and, a state of coma ensuing, the disease may have a fatal termination. ACIDS. —These are substances which combine with alkalies to form salts. The strong mineral acids, especially chromic and nitric, with pure acetic and carbolic from among the organic acids, are used as caustics to remove outgrowths such as corns, warts, piles, and also to destroy dis¬ eased tissue in poisoned wounds and spreading sores. Weak acids are given in dyspepsia (see D yspepsi a) , usually after meals, to stimulate the stomach wall. For this action hydrochloric acid (the acid naturally present in the gastric juice).