Aesthete

“ Poems which are masterpieces of sensuous art, such as mere æsthetes, like Rosetti and his school, must contemplate with admiring despair, he makes vehicles of the most serious moral and spiritual teaching. ”

“ But the fashionable ladies soon succumbed to the craze, and became adepts in the lingo of intensity. Punch attacked the æsthetes alternately with the rapier and the bludgeon, using the former in the delicate raillery of Du Maurier's pictures, the latter in prose and verse comments on their eccentricities and extravagance. Here his attitude is invariably that of the healthy Philistine. ”

“ His Chapter Seven is devoted to showing how the blood passes through the substance of the lungs from the right ventricle and then on into the pulmonary vein and left ventricle. He alludes to the multitude of doubters as belonging, as the poet had said, to that race of men who, when they will, assent full readily, and when they will not, by no matter of means; who, when their assent is wanted, fear, and when it is not, fear not to give it. ”

“ No Disease is more difficult to cure than the Epilepsy or Falling- Sickness; yet several Instances have occurred where the most violent Degrees of it, have been cured, even in grown Persons, by taking a Dose of this Medicine regularly every Night and Morning for a considerable Time. The Dose must be regulated according to the Age of the Patient, as mentioned in the General Direction, Page 11. If a Pain is felt in any Part of the Head, the AETHER must be applied to that Part occasionally, and it must be previously shaved, if necessary. ”

“ A point of interest is that the windpipe, or trachea, is called "arteria," both by Aristotle and by Hippocrates ("Anatomy," Littre, VIII, 539) . It was the air-tube, disseminating the breath through the lungs. We shall see in a few minutes how the term came to be applied to the arteries, as we know them. The pulsation of the heart and arteries was regarded by Aristotle as a sort of ebullition in which the liquids were inflated by the vital or innate heat, the fires of which were cooled by the pneuma taken in by the lungs and carried to the heart by the pulmonary vessels. ”

“ A demand for a crucial examination of the skull, the heart, lungs, of the chest, the stomach, liver and other organs of the abdomen is made. The septum of the brain, the pericardium of the chest—the diaphragm of the abdomen which is a dividing septum between the abdomen and chest. In this examination we must know the reasons why any organs, vessel or any other substance is located at a given place. We must run with all the rivers of blood that travel through the system. ”

“ If he is ignorant of the muscles which give it motion, or of the nerves which give it sensation, by cutting through the tendon of a muscle, or by dividing some principal nerve, he may forever deprive the patient of life, or movement in the part. If he knows not the course and distribution of its vessels, he may wound some considerable artery, and from the loss of blood may occasion dangerous accidents. Perhaps speedy death will be the consequence of his rashness.
With what propriety can any one arrogate to himself the title of Physician, if he is ignorant of Anatomy? ”

“ Empedocles, however, explains the passage inwards and outwards of the breath, by the theory that there are certain blood-vessels, which, while containing blood, are not filled by it, but have passages leading to the outer air, the calibre of which is fine in contrast to the size of the solid particles, but large relatively to those in the air. Hence, since it is the nature of the blood to move upwards and downwards, when it moves down the air rushes in and inspiration occurs; when the blood rises, the air is forced out and the outward motion of the breath results. ”

“ Thus [31] do all things draw breath and breathe it out again. All have bloodless tubes of flesh extended over the surface of their bodies; and at the mouths of these the outermost surface of the skin is perforated all over with pores closely packed together, 5so as to keep in the blood while a free passage is cut for the air to pass through. Then, when the thin blood recedes from these, the bubbling air rushes in with an impetuous surge; and when the blood runs back it is breathed out again. ”

“ But there are other great, if less direct, results, each making its presence known to the professional spectator. By anæsthesia successful operations previously unheard of and unthought of were made possible after the principle of antiseptic surgery had been established; by anæsthesia experimental research, which has led to numerous beneficent results in practical surgery and medicine, was made possible. Its introduction is an achievement of which the Anglo-Saxon race may well be proud. ”

“ The compression of the neck acts in line with the axis of the body; while in strangulation it acts perpendicularly to that axis.
The final cause of death will depend on: 1. The suddenness and completeness of interference with the access of air; asphyxia. 2. Pressure on the large veins of the neck, preventing the return of blood from the head, causing congestion of brain and coma. 3. Pressure on the large arteries of the neck, preventing access of blood to the brain; causing anæmia of the brain and syncope. ”

“ Very few of us have realized, however, the perfection to which anæsthesia was developed, and the possibility this provided for the great surgeons of the later medieval centuries to do operations in all the great cavities of the body, the skull, the thorax, and the abdomen, quite as they are done in our own time and apparently with no little degree of success. ”

“ For just as a stream of water deposits mud, so the various viscera, the heart excepted, are, as it were, deposits from the stream of blood in the vessels. And as to the heart, the very starting-point of the vessels, and the actual seat of the force by which the blood is first fabricated, it is but what one would naturally expect, that out of the selfsame nutriment of which it is the recipient its own proper substance shall be formed. ”

“ Still further,12 although some affirm that the lungs, arteries, and heart have all the same offices, they yet maintain that the heart is the workshop of the spirits, and that the arteries contain and transmit them; denying, however, in opposition to the opinion of Columbus, that the lungs can either make or contain spirits; and then they assert, with Galen, against Erasistratus, that it is blood, not spirits, which is contained in the arteries. ”

“ Immediately a dull, sickening pain becomes apparent at the base of the neck, and insensibility rapidly ensues. This arises from the affection of the respiratory nerve centre. In a short space of time the face becomes dark and congested through the veins being gorged with blood, and the heart ultimately ceases to beat. ”

“ A fit of the Head-ach is almost instantly removed by applying the AETHER externally to the Forehead, by means of a bit of Linen Rag, in the Manner hereafter directed for it's external Application. Or it may be applied to any other Part of the Head where the Pain lies, being first shaved, if necessary. If the Pain is violent, a Dose of it should be also taken inwardly. In stubborn Cases it will likewise be serviceable to snuff a little of the AETHER up the Nostrils, either alone or mixed with equal Parts of Lavender Water, Hungary Water, or Brandy ”

“ Those persons are deceived who say that the lungs are empty, drawing their conclusion from dissected animals, from which all the blood has escaped. Of all the viscera the heart alone contains blood, and in the lungs the blood is not in the lungs themselves, but in the veins by which they are perforated. But in the heart itself the blood is in each of the cavities, but the thinnest blood is in the middle cavity. ”

“ The flesh, to support their bodies with the additional weights attached thereto, was raised some eight inches by the skewers, and their heads sinking forward on their breasts, or thrown backward in a much more frightful condition, was a sight that made one's blood curdle, and the heart turn sick at the ghastly, bloody spectacle. ”

“ In this respect, a thousand ways are constantly open for the blood to escape from its vessels, which communicate thus everywhere without, and do not present any mechanical obstacle to the blood in their cavity, which life alone retains within the limits of its circulation. The oozings after death through the exhalants, the excretories and the veins, are so well known, so many anatomists have related examples of them, that I think it unnecessary to give them in detail here. ”

“ The followers of Erasistratus immediately raised this objection: If the arteries contain blood, how may the air which is drawn into the lungs find its way to all parts of the body? Galen replied that the inhaled air does not pass through the lungs, but is rejected by them after it has cooled the blood. ”

“ Anaesthesia is also a condition which may be produced in the hypnotic sleep,—a fact well recognized by the ancients, although the attention of scientific men was scarcely drawn to the fact until the days of the notorious Mesmer. The substances which may produce loss of consciousness may be taken intentionally or unintentionally, and maybe taken into the stomach, beneath the skin, or, when gaseous, through the lungs, in which absorption of the same into the blood is very speedy. ”

“ In giving ether one makes use of the upper half of the fenestra with its separate ether pad; while chloroform and anaesthol are given to advantage through the lower portion. The chin, cheek and bridge of the nose are anointed with a little white vaseline at the line of contact with the mask, and then the latter is allowed to rest lightly on the face of the patient for a few moments, until he can reconcile himself to the strange procedure, and resumes his normal breathing. There must be absolute quiet. The anesthetist alone may speak when he deems fit. ”

“ The signs will be pains in the head, stomach, and back, with inflammations, suffocations, and excoriations of the matrix. If the strength of the patient will permit, first open a vein in the arm, rub the upper parts, and let her arm be corded, that the force of the blood may be carried backwards: then apply such things as may laxate and mollify the strengthening of the womb, and assuage the sharpness of the blood, as cataplasms made of bran, linseed, and mallows. If the blood be vicious and gross, add thereto mugwort, calamint, dictam, and betony ”

“ The term diathesis in this inscription is used in a different sense from that in which we now employ the same word in modern medicine. At the present day we apply the term diathesis to designate the tendency or predisposition to some special disease, or class of diseases. In the times of the Roman physicians, it was often used as synonymous with disease itself; and in the Latin translations of the Greek texts of Galen, Aetius, etc., it is hence rendered usually by the general word “affectus,” “affectio,” etc. ”

“ It seldom succeeds in men of great natural strength, of tense fibre, of warm skin, of florid complexion, or in those with a tight and cordy pulse.
If the belly in ascites be tense, hard, and circumscribed, or the limbs in anasarca solid and resisting, we have but little to hope. ”

“ It is unsafe to concentrate the attention on one sign, lest the general aspect of the patient be overlooked.
The anesthetist watches constantly the rhythm and quality of the breathing, the color of the ear and the character of the pulse. From time to time, only as occasion demands, 22he refers to the accessory signs for confirmation. Should he, at any time, be in doubt about the depth of the narcosis, the first step is always to desist from giving more of the anesthetic until he has regained his bearings or the signs of awakening are recognized. ”

“ The weight on his chest turned to a pain within, an agony at each laboring breath. He was breathing carbonic gases and he longed for their complete anesthesia. He no longer wished for life nor thought coherently. ”

“ Among the unconscious responses to trauma under ether anesthesia are purposeless moving, the withdrawal of the injured part, and, if the anesthesia be sufficiently light and the trauma sufficiently strong, there may be an effort toward escape from the injury. In injury under ether anesthesia every grade of response may be seen, from the slightest change in the respiration or in the blood-pressure to a vigorous defensive struggle. ”

“ They do not perceive the contact of the objects that wound them. An experiment which always creates astonishment in persons who are not acquainted with medical practice is, to bandage the eyes of a patient, and scratch along her arm from place to place with a fine needle without her receiving the least intimation from her senses that she is wounded.
Anæsthesia is sometimes general and equally marked on the right and left sides, sometimes limited to a particular region of the body, as the forehead, the chest, or the forearm. ”

“ The noisy breathing attracts the surgeon’s attention. The perspiring anesthetist is enjoined to push the jaw forward; but the spasm of the muscles is too great. The teeth are pried apart, barbarous instruments are brought into play to pull the tongue forward. The patient has not received sufficient air all this time—his face is slate-colored. ”

“ Ether, it is true, was recommended even before Davy’s day for the relief of the suffering in asthma, but until the fifth decade of the century no one had attempted to prevent suffering as inflicted by the surgeon or the dentist, by producing the state of unconsciousness brought about by the inhalation of such drugs as ether—a process now known to the world as anæsthesia.
The persons who first made the bold experiments which resulted in the discovery of how to produce anæsthesia were Americans ”