Chinese woodcut: Abscess of the heel

Woodcut illustrating the 17th century Chinese medical text Yangyi daquan (Great Compendium of The Medicine of Sores) Gu Shicheng, from an edition published in 1901 (27th year of the Guangxu reign period of the Qing dynasty). The illustration shows the disease location for zugen ju (abscess of the heel). In current medical terms, this might be identified as osteomyelitis or bone tuberculosis of the heel. At the onset of the disease, it is inflamed, reddish-purple and painful. It then festers and suppurates, and penetrates inwards as far as the bone. It takes a very long time to heal.

PICTURE TITLE: Untitled. OTHER LETTERING: Zugen ju (abscess of the heel)