Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/295

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BBetltfy to pregnant women. In thefe cafes powders of nitre and cinnabar are to be given internally, and externally emo- lient cataptafms are to be applied warm till the diforder ceafes. . ,

HamorrUldeu Thefe in fregrmnt women often fwell into a fort of bladders, and are attended with a violent burning pain, and fometimes with an ulcerous erofion, and are ufually a very troublefome complaint to perfons of plethoric habits. They are to be cured by giving internally nitrous and other attem- peralino- medicines, and applying externally the unguentum lmarix,° made of the herb toad-flax, cut and boiled in lard. A deception or extract of yarrow is alfo a good medicine. Swellings of the feet are another of the troublefome complaints that attend pregnant women. Thefe, when they are confined to the feet, or do not extend above the knees, are of no ereat harm ; but they fometimes reach up to the abdomen, and there leave the fymptoms of an afcites : but even in this cafe, it is beft to let the tumor alone during the time of preg- nancy^ or at the utmoft only to attempt mitigating and al- laying its fymptoms ; for the cure requires fuch medicines as cannot be lafely given at that time. The patient muft avoid ftanding as much as poflible, and after delivery the cure is to be attempted in the common way. When women in their ■pregmney lofe their flefh, and become extenuated and thin, the child is ufually found to be the luftier and more robuft for it : the woman in this cafe mould feed on jellies, and other the moft nourifhing foods, and mould uk very little exerciie, avoiding all fatigue of body and mind. Others, on the other hand, are fubject to grow remarkably fat during their preg- nancy, thefe generally bring forth fmall and lean children. Women to whom their fat grows troublefome in this time, fhould bleed, ufe moderate exercife, a thin diet, and now and then take a very gentle dofe of fomc laxative medicine. Many are very weak and fubject to frequent faintings during pregnancy: thefe fhould take at times a gentle dofe of fome laxative'medicine. and in the intermediate days, the ftrengthen- ing and ftomachic medicines, with the milder carminatives. A voidino- of the waters too foon always threatens abortion, or an untimely delivery, which are to be guarded againft by ftrengthening medicines of all kinds. Many women dur- ing piegnancy are troubled with large brown fpots, orlichenes, in the neck and face ; thefe principally happen to perfons of bilious habits, and are in fome attended with a continual pale- nefs, in others with frequent flufhings of heat and rednefs : the good women apply many remedies to thefe, but they arc much better wholly let alone \ for they always go ofF of themfelves after delivery.

The too great motion of the fetus is a complaint not uncom- mon with pregnant women ; but this is principally owing to themfelves, and is brought on by the violent paffions of the mother, especially thofe of anger : the keeping the abdomen too hot will alfo occafion this, and iometimes it is owing to fome indifpofition of the foetus itfelf. If any medicines are to be given in this cafe, it muft be the attemperating ones, and fuch as can correct the acrimony of the bilious juices nervous epithems may alfo be externally applied, and the per- fon is to be kept in as tranquil a ftate as poilibkj both as to bodily motion and the pamons of the mind. The child's kicking in the uterus is a complaint very frequent in the laft months of pregnancy, and in perfons of tender ha bits it often occafions tears, and fomctimes faintings. Some fuppofe that this threatens abortion ; but this is wholly erro- neous, for the foetus has no power of contributing to its own birth. This is a fymptom for which there is no remedy but patience, but it goes off before the time of delivery. Weaknefs of the foetus is known by its feeble motion in the womb, and ufually depends on the bad confiitution of the mother, orelfe on her having been fubjected to violent frights, or to great forrow. Internal medicines of the ftrengthenin^ kind are proper in this cafe, and externally, balfamic and aro- matic plaifters may be applied.

The fecundines fometimes concrete or grow to the uterus ; out of their proper order and place: this is a diforder we have but very {lender opportunities of gueffing at, and is prin- cipally caufed by too much fitting {till during the latter part of pregnancy. When this is fufpeeted to be the cafe, internal medicines are of no ufe; and the externals are only the fat of tender animals, or fpirit of wine impregnated with oils of annife or caraway, frequently rubbed in on the belly. The winding of the navel-ftring about the neck of the child is often a very unhappy accident and proves fatal to it : the good women fuppofe this to be owing to the mother's reaching upwards, and {training her arms above her head near the time of her delivery ; but this is an idle opinion, and the cafe is owing to no fudden accident, but is probably an unlucky turn of the firing from the beginning. 'Junker's Confp. Med. p 7°8. See LyiNG-:«. PRENANTHES, in botany, the name of a genus of plant?, the characters of which are thefe : the flower is of the com- pofite kind ; the common cup is of a cylindric figure, and has a wide mouth ; there are five equal fquamma?, and three un- equal ones, which are fmaller, and placed at the bafe. The flower is compound, not imbricated ; it is compofed of equal flowers of the hermaphrodite kind, placed in a fingle circle $ SuiTL. Vol. II.

each fingle flower is compofed of one petal, and is hgulatea** truncated, and divided into five fegments at theed'e; the ftamina are five very fhort and capillary filaments ; the anthe- rs are cylindric and tubular ; the germen of the piftil is placed below the flower; it is fmall; tttfe ftyle is capillary and longer than the ftamina; the ftigma is bifid and reflex; the cup, a |ter the flower is fallen, joins its feveral fegments lightly at the top ; and the feeds are fingle, of a cordated figure, and winded with a flender downy filament; the receptacle is naked. There is one fpecies of this plant in which the down has a pedicle, hinnai Gen. PI, p. 374. PREPARATION (X>/.j-Pr E paratign, in anatomy, is ufed for the art of preferving the parts of animal bodies for anatomical ufes.

It is alfo ufed to fignify the parts themfelves fo preferved. Mr. Monro has given us an effay on the method of preparing and preferving the parts of animal bodies for anatomical ufes. Med. Eff Edinb. Vol. ill. Art. 10.

The manner of preferving anatomical preparations, is either by drying them thoroughly in the air, or putting them into a proper liquor.

In drying parts which are thick, when the weather is warm, care muft be taken to prevent putrefaction, fly-blows, infects, £?r. This is eafily done by the ufe of a folution of corro- five fublimate in fpirit of wine, in the proportion of two drachms of fublimate to a pound of fpirit: the part fhould be moiftened with this liquor as it dries, and by this method the body of a child may be kept fafe even in fummer. Dried preparations are apt to crack and moulder away in keeping - r to prevent this their furface mould be covered with a thick varnifh, repeated as often as occafion require:. Med. Efl". Edinb. abr. Vol.11, p. 8.

Tho' feveral parts prepared dry are ufeful, yet others muft be fo managed as to be always flexible, and nearer a natural ftate. The difficulty has been to find a proper liquor for this purpofe. Mr. Monro fays, the beft he knows is a well rec- tified colourlefs fpirit of wine, to which is added a fmall quan- tity of the fpirit of vitriol or nitre. When thefe are properly mixed, they neither change their colour nor the confiftence of the parts, except where there are ferous or mucous liquor con- tained in them. The brain, even of a young child, in this mixture grows fo firm as to admit of gentle handling, as do alfo the vitreous and chryftaline humours of the eye. The li- quor of the febaccous glands and the femefl are coagulated by this fpirituous mixture; and it heightens the red colour of the injection of the blood veflels, fo that after the part has been in it a little time, feveral vefTels appear which were before in- vifible. If you will compare thefe effects with what Ruyfch has faid of his balfam, you will find the liquor above men- tioned to come very near to it.

The proportion of the two fpirits muft be changed accord- ing to the part prepared : for the brain and humours of the eye, you muft put two drachms of fpirit of nitre to one pound of fpirit of wine. In preferving other parts which are harder, thirty or forty drops of the acid will be fufficient ; a larger quantity will make bones flexible, and even diffolve them. The part thus preferved fhould be always kept covered with the liquor, therefore great care fhould be taken to ftop the mouth of the glafs with a waxed cork and a bladder tied over it, to prevent the evaporation of the fpirit ; fome of which, notwithstanding all this care, will fly off; therefore frefh muft be added as there is occafion. When the fpirits change to a dark tincture, which will fometimes happen, they fhould be poured off, and frefh put in their room^ but with fome what lefs acid than at firft.

The glaffes which contain the preparations fhould be of the fineft fort, and pretty thick; for through fuch the parts may- be feen very diftinctly, and of a true colour, and the object will be fo magnified as to fhew veflels in the glafs which out of it were not to be feen.

As the glafs when filled with the liquor has a certain focus, it is necefliuy to keep the preparation at a proper diftance from the fides of it, which is eafily done by little flicks fuitably placed; or by fufpendhig it by a thread in a proper fituation. The operator fhould be cautious of putting his fingers in thi3 liquor oftener than is abfoiutcly necefTary ; becaufe it brings on a numbnefs on thefkin, which makes the fingers unfit for any nice operation. The beft remedy for this is to wafh them in water mixed with a few drops of oil of tartar per de- liquium. Med. Eff. Edinb. abr. Vol. II. p. 9. Dr. Chrift. Jac. Trew prefers the rectified fpirit of grain for preferving anatomical preparations to fpirit of wine, or compofitions of alcohol, amber, camphor, £&■. becaufe thefe foon change into a brown colour ; whereas the fpirit from malt prefcrves its limpid appearance. When any part is to be preferved wet, wafh it with water till it is no more tinc- tured. The water is next to be wafhed away with fpirits, and then the preparation is to be put among fpirits in a glafs, the mouth of which is to be clofely covered with a glafs head, over which a wet bladder and leaf-tin are to be tied. Com. Lit. Norimb. 1731. Senaeft. 1. Specim. 9. Preparation of infects, in anatomy. See Insects. PRESA, in the Italian rnufic, is in general a character which fhews when and where a performer in a concert is to begin to 3 A a fing