Lectures on Clinical Medicine, Delivered at the Hotel-Dieu, Paris (Volume 5); Delivered at the Hotel-Dieu, Paris (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1872. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... nient and more precise: it obviates the necessity of holding in the hand which percusses, the pencil with which the limits of organs are marked. Nor is this all: this instrument of Dr. Peter--which he calls a plessigraph--is exceedingly delicate. It is not necessary to percuss --it is sufficient merely to touch. The touch ought moreover to be as rapid as possible. Let me now describe the manner of using this instrument: -- Hold the instrument firmly between the thumb and index finger of the left hand: the less you put the fingers on it, the less you deaden the sound. Place the thumb on the little knob by which the crayon is moved. Holding the plessigraph, as I have now described, in the left hand, apply it firmly and perpendicularly to the surface of the skin. Touch the firmly held plessigraph with the palmar surface of the extended index finger of the right hand. Do not percuss, as when you use the plessimeter, with the ungual portion of the fingers flexed. You thus avoid hard striking, which might be painful from the smallness of the surface percussed: as the plessigraph is touched by the whole palmar surface of the index finger, and not by the ungual extremity, an incredible delicacy of sensation is obtained. The consistence of tissues is perceived with very great precision, which you can understand, as they are touched by the intermediary of the plessigraph just as in performing palpation for the discovery of the nature of bodies. Dr. Peter's instrument is ten centimeters in length: it is divided into ten equal parts, each of which is one centimeter: one of these centimeters is divided into millimeters; so that the instrument, besides serving for the percussion and delineation of organs, serves also for their measurement. To sum up: --The plessigraph ...