A treatise on the diseases of the chest : in which they are described according to their anatomical characters, and their diagnosis established on a new principle by means of acoustick instruments : with plates / tr. from the French of R.T.H. Laennec, with a preface and notes by John Forbes.

  • Laennec, R. T. H. (René Théophile Hyacinthe), 1781-1826.
Date:
1821
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the diseases of the chest : in which they are described according to their anatomical characters, and their diagnosis established on a new principle by means of acoustick instruments : with plates / tr. from the French of R.T.H. Laennec, with a preface and notes by John Forbes. 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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    it has a slight reddish or violet tint, which latter co- lour is derived from the colour of the subjacent tissue being seen through it. Sometimes, however, even when the membrane is of considerable thickness, its internal surface is of a rose or red colour, which does not yield to washing, and which is therefore probably occasioned by the vascularity of the part, although, in such cases, we are unable to detect any distinct vessel. In some very rare instances we find tubercles en- tirely, or almost entirely, softened, in a portion of lung in other respects quite healthy and crepitous ; and, in such cases, (two or three of which only I have met with in eighteen years,) the walls of the cavity are smooth, and seem to be formed merely by the pulmonary tissue somewhat condensed, there being no accidental membranous production whatever. Sometimes, but very rarely, the semi-cartilaginous membrane is perceptible before the softening of the tubercles, and, indeed, seems to be of the same date as themselves. This is the encysted tubercle of Bayle. The texture of these cysts is entirely cartilaginous, only a little less solid than cartilage, and they belong, therefore, to the class of imperfect cartilages, of which I have given an account in another place.* They adhere firmly, by their exterior surface, to the parts which surround them, so as only to be separable by the knife, or by forcible detraction. The tuberculous matter contained in these adheres strongly to their sides, which, when it is removed, are seen to be smooth and polished, though more or less uneven or * Diet, fas Srienc. Med.