THE THERMO-CAUTERY IN OBSTETRIC SURGERY.

193 able pain, M. Gaiffe largely increased the resistance, with THE THERMO-CAUTERY IN OBSTETRIC the desired result; but since the resistance increases with use, it is not advisable to begin with an artificially augSURGERY. mented resistance, as after a time it becomes excessive, and BY S. W. IORWERTH JOSEPH, impairs the power of the battery. Thirty to fifty cells are required to form an efficient HOUSE-SURGEON, THE HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN. battery. By thoroughly moistening the skin with an acid or saline solution before applying the electrodes, most Dia. Cautery (patented), made by Messrs. requirements will be met by thirty cells. Every battery Collin PAQUELIN’S and of Paris, was figured and briefly deCo., should be fitted with a contrivance for bringing readily into in THE scribed LANCET of January 20th, 1877; and some the of circuit required number cells, and this selector should be arranged so as to avoid a break during a change in the remarks respecting its usefulness in the Royal Infirmary, number of cells in circuit, otherwise the patient will ex- Edinburgh, were published in the succeeding number. perience a disagreeable shock. This unpleasant hitch is The use of this cautery at the Hospital for usually obviated by making the selector take up the new Womenfrequent me to furnish some additional remarks; permits cell before it leaves the cell with which it is en rapport. A with the of the medical officers here, I take and, also or current should form of permission commutator, reverser, part the battery, as, independently of its nse for changing the the opportunity of bringing before the notice of the prodirection of the current, it is convenient to have a means of fession certain appliances which have been made at their opening and closing the circuit without interfering with the suggestion by Messrs. Mayer and Meltzer, of Great Portelectrodes. In order to estimate the amount of electricity it in a far larger number administered a galvanometer is absolutely necessary, other- land-street, rendering applicable a of and much more valuable instrucases, consequently wise the operator can but guess the dose he is giving. The in hands ment the of the operator. The simplicity, comdosage of medicine by tablespoonfuls of indefinite capacity is much less inaccurate than the usual mode of estimating pactness, portability, and efficiency of the cautery are the amount of electricity administered by the number of sufficient reasons for recommending it, and the esteem in cells used, for not only does one kind of cell differ from which it is here held is best conceived when I say that the another in amount of current, but the same battery varies has been the and discarded, altogether galvanoconsiderably according to whether or not it has been recently fer-rouge charged-a remark which holds with great force in regard cautery virtually so, being only employed in a few instances. The class of cases it has been most used for here are to single-cell batteries, which rapidly lose strength by use. Different individuals also manifest a considerable difference necessarily uterine; such as growths of various kinds in the in the resistance of the skin, and even the same individual cervical canal; induration, hypertrophy, and carcinomatous has a varying resistance, depending to a certain extent upon growths of the cervix uteri, vulva, and other parts. As stated in the report above referred to, " some expethe activity or otherwise of the sudoriparous glands. On two separate occasions with the same patient I measured rience is required in regulating the proper heating of the the resistance whilst the current was passing along the flexor knife, and the amount of pressure with which it should be carpi radialis, and on the first it equalled 4450 ohms, and on used, but when this experience is gained the working of the second 1200 ohms, this marked difference being caused the instrument is perfect." Mr. Annandale’s observations by the patient having, at my request, bathed her arm in hot respecting the heat desired for dividing the several tissues water, and rubbed it well with a bath-glove immediately of the body are strictly confirmed by every-day experience previous to the second experiment. When the cutaneous in this hospital. When heated to vivid incandescence, large resistance is high, a larger number of cells are required to masses of fungating and carcinomatous tissues may be produce the same effect as a less number will accomplish rapidly destroyed; when, on the other hand, it is important with a lower resistance. to prevent hemorrhage (and a bloodless operation may often The measuring apparatus should consist of a tangent be performed), it is desirable that only a red heat should galvanometer and a resistance-coil of 150 or 200 ohms; the be employed. The regulation of the temperature is easily electro-motive force will then be proportional to the tangent affected, depending simply upon the manipulation by the of the angle of deflection. The resistance-coil is only in- hand of an ordinary spray-bellows; by means of which a cluded in the circuit when we wish to measure the power of current of benzoline vapour is made to pass over a heated the battery, which is done by bringing into contact with surface of platinum. I have myself found the instrument most efficient in each other the metallic terminals ofthe conducting cords, and noting the deflection of the needle. When the gal- arresting haemorrhage. Let me cite two instances. In the vanometer is used for gauging the dose administered to a first, free haemorrhage was proceeding per vaginam; the patient, the resistance-coil is left out of circuit, as it would case was one of induration of the cervix uteri, to which needlessly augment the resistance. Ordinarily it is neces- caustic potash had been applied by Dr. Heywood Smith on sary merely to note the number of degrees indicated by the several occasions-the last time four days prior to the deflected needle, and when on another occasion the same ’bleeding, and the process of ulceration which had led amount of current is desired, a similar deflection must be to the separation of a large slough had at the same time produced irrespective of the number of cells employed. laid open an artery on each lip of the cervix, about an The so-called galvanometer usually supplied with medical inch up the canal. To see the bleeding points it was batteries merely indicates the presence or absence of an necessary to separate the lips of the cervix with ovumelectric current when the circuit is closed, for inasmuch as forceps, and between the separated blades is inserted the the needle is deflected by one cell as far as by fifty, the in- platinum point of the cautery at a dull-red heat. The strument is not a galvanometer, but merely a galvanoscope. haemorrhage, which in a short space of time had exceeded Nevertheless a simple indicator of this kind is useful to two pints, was instantly arrested, which might have been test the connexions of the battery and electrodes, for if otherwise, judging by the size of the pumping-vessels and contact of the electrodes produces a deflection of the needle, their position, had not the cautery been at hand. The second the circuit is complete. Indeed, this precaution should case was one of secondary haemorrhage from the left labium always be taken before applying the electrodes, as in many majus, from which an epitheliomatous mass had been removed on the previous day. cases the patient cannot feel the application, and without some such testing expedient we may peradventure employ While acting so readily and so efficiently as a cautery, thenegative current" in a ludicrously different sense to the instrument is, in great measure, free from the serious that which we intend. objection of radiating heat, on which account it is pecuthe best for useful in operative procedures in the mouth, vagina, or epitomise: battery consulting-room liarly To hospital use is the Daniell.Muirhead; for consulting-room and rectum. Another advantage in it is the platinum head and out-door work combined, I consider the peroxide is not so quickly cooled as most other forms of cautery, it batteries by far the best, as, in addition to their intrinsic being possible to maintain the platinum hot, when in conmerit, they are convenient to carry, and are much less likely tact with the tissues, by pumping the benzoline vapour to allow the exciting fluid to escape during transit than the through the handle shaft by constantly manipulating the ordinary kind of battery. spray-bellows. Occasionally, however, I have found the Rochester. platinum head become rapidly cooled, but this I attribute

194 often to the employment of an inferior quality of benzoline than to any deficiency in the instrument. The character of the eschar formed varies in appearance, according to the heat at which the cautery is used, and the period of separation is also modified by the nature of the tissue to which it is applied. When employed at a white heat the destruction of tissue is extremely rapid, the eschar formed is generally black, and at this temperature a small zone of surrounding inflammatory redness often occurs; but, as proving the radiating heat to be inconsiderable, I may say that when applied to the cervix uteri a glass speculum is habitually used. Asa result of employing a red heat, the cervical tissues assume a white wet leathery sort of appearance ; but in both instances the slough which subsequently forms is healthy, and has never as yet given rise to septic

of endo-cervicitis. Fig. 4 represents a thick, round probe, useful for arresting haemorrhage, and in other cases where it is desirable the application of the cautery should be strictly limited to the point first touched. Fig. 5 depicts a form of écraseur and guillotine combined, and though its efficiency is not yet confirmed, it will doubtless prove of great value in many instances, at least it commends itself on examination for the removal of large polypoid growths, The heated platinum plate is propelled forward and at &c. the same time has a lateral movement, by means of a screw apparatus, so that without moving the handle the surface over which the cauterising plate is made to pass is very considerable. I am permitted to add that Dr. Heywood Smith has applied the thermo-cautery to as many as eight or ten out. patients on one day, so generally useful and so free from absorption. The separation of the slough is, as a rule, somewhat more injurious sequoias has it been found. A large number of rapid, I am inclined to think, than after the use of the these casps have been 11 granular erosion" of the cervix galvano-cautery; and occasionally slight secondary boomor- uteri, which, after resisting all other treatment, have readily rhage occurs, which, however, may always be arrested by a healed after a few applications of the platinum point. gentle reapplication ; indeed, it is seldom necessary to resort to such a heroic measure, a dry plug frequently sufficing. This hsemorrbage is possibly due to the short time the slough takes to form being insufficient for the complete formation of the capillary circulation along the border line of separation; as, however, I have noticed this more geneOF rally after operations on the uterus, the nature of the tissue operated upon is doubtless one factor, if not the prime factor, in causing it. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. The accompanying diagrams illustrate the additional autem est alia pro certo noscendi via, nisi quamplnrimas et morbonm appliances made for Mr. Reeves and Dr. Heywood Smith by etNulla dissectionum historias, tum aliorum, tum proprias collectas habere, e: Messrs. Mayer and Meltzer. Each piece may be joined to se comparare.—MoMA.SNi De Sed. et Caua. Morb., lib. iv. Procamium, the common shaft furnished in Collin’s instrument.

more

A Mirror

HOSPITAL PRACTICE,

mter

ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL. KIDNEY OF FOURTEEN YEARS’ DURA-

CANCER OF THE

TION;

(Under

,

Fig. 1 represents a Etilette found to be extremely useful for touching ulcers and fissuies of the bowel, puncturing internal and external piles with the most satisfactory results, some of the cases so treated leaving the hospital within seven days of the operation ; but as Mr. Reeves pur-

DEATH FROM PHTHISIS.

the

care

of Dr.

ANDREW.)

FoR the following notes we are indebted to Mr. R. Wharry, M.B. In this remarkable case there is sufficient evidence for believing that the malignant growth in the right kidney had existed for fourteen years at least (probably nearly two years longer). Its origin was distinctly traced to an injury, its progress was gradual, and, with the exception of the occasional attacks of hsematuria, gave rise to no inconvenience except that occasioned by its size. The growth was not the immediate cause of death, and, but for the oc. currence of phthisis, might not have destroyed life for8> considerable time. In structure it apparently consisted of both scirrhous and encephaloid cancer, the older parts being scirrhus, the more recent encephaloid. There were no secondary deposits in any other organ. No cancer-celts were at any time detected in the urine. A mulberry calculus was present in the affected kidney. The interest attaching to thecase does not rest solely with the abdominal tumour. The patient died from the effect of fog upon lungs in an advanced condition of phthisis, although, from the coexistence of emphysema, it was quite impossible to ascertain precisely the state of these organs from a physical examination. The existence of phthisis was diagnosed during life, but not from the information derived from physical examination of the chest. The tuberculous ulceration of the intestines was in no way indicated during life, the only symptom referable to the gastro-intestinal tract being a feeling of heaviness in the epigastrium after dinner. It is an open question whether the shivering fit which occurred was the effect of a malarial taint, or the result of some irritation of the ureter by the calculus, since the patient had been in India, but had not suffered from ague

shortly writing fully on this subject I must refrain speaking more in detail. It is likewise very useful in ulcerated and granular conditions of the female urethra, also in nsevoid growths and in cases of undue vascularity there. and vascular growths of the meatus minarius. Fig. 2 is a J. B-, aged thirty-six, a french-polisher, formerlya knife, very useful for cutting purposes, as in the separation soldier, was admitted Oct. 5th, 1876. lie was ema.cia.tea; of a pedicle ; but especially so in dissecting away growths his face flushed; eyes sunken, pupils equal; tongue clean; which have an intimate relation with bone. Fig. 3 illus- pulse 90, of fair volume, regular, and soft; temperature trates a sound which Dr. Heywood Smith has found very 993°; respiration 28. The thorax was barrel-shaped;shoul. efficient in destroying points of great sensibility in the cer- ders high; angle of Ludovicus prominent; costal angle vical canal, and for the local treatment of obstinate cases enlarged. Expansion was greater on the right side than on

poses from

,