Observations and experiments on the efficacy and modus operandi of cupping-glasses, in preventing and arresting the effects of poisoned wounds / by Caspar Wistar Pennock.

Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations and experiments on the efficacy and modus operandi of cupping-glasses, in preventing and arresting the effects of poisoned wounds / by Caspar Wistar Pennock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Sixth. If after the application of a glass for a given time, to the sound skin over the spot where the poison has been deposited, the glass be removed, death will then ensue as soon as it no such appli- 25 7 cation had been made. This last position is entirely at variance with the observations ol Dr. Barry. He expressly says, that “ after the glass had been taken off, the animal continued for one or two hours to carry imbedded in his cellular tissue a dose which would infallibly have destroyed him in a few minutes, had the cupping-glasses not been previously applied. I have repeatedly observed, however, that it the animal was aban- doned to his fate after the glass had been removed, after an applica- tion of it for an hour or more, that death took place as soon afterwards as it ordinarily did when no vacuum had been formed. Experiment fifth is in confirmation of this fact. Experiment 1st.—I introduced into the left thigh of a remarkably large and strong adult rabbit, between the skin and cellular tissue, one grain of strychnine. The wound was closed by suture and ad- hesive plaster. The animal soon showed symptoms of great uneasi- ness, attended by difficult respiration. In thirteen minutes after the. insertion of the poison, slight convulsive movements were manifested, which at seventeen minutes increased greatly. At twenty minutes, violent convulsions of a decided tetanic character ensued, which threw the whole frame of the animal into violent agitation. At. twenty-three minutes after the introduction of the poison, opisthoto- nos came on: every muscle was rigid, and death quickly ensued. Experiment 2d.—I inserted into the thigh of a rabbit, smaller, and less vigorous than the subject of the first experiment, one grain of strychnine under circumstances precisely similar. The wound was closed by suture, and covered by a strip of adhesive plaster. Two minutes afterward, the cupping-glass was applied, and the atmo- spheric pressure removed; this was continued an hour and fifteen minutes, and no symptom of the action of the poison was exhibited. The poison was flow cut out, and the wound being carefully washed, it was closed by suture and adhesive plaster. The animal bein°- placed at liberty, ate, appeared lively, and regardless of the pain to which he had been exposed; in a few days he recovered from the injury. Experiment 3d.— One graiu of strychnine was introduced through the barrel of a quill, some distance beneath the skin, and into the cellular tissue of the thigh of a rabbit. The orifice was closed by suture and adhesive plaster, and the animal abandoned to his fate. He became extremely uneasy and restless; walking with agitation about the room,