hybrids: cox-algia, stern-algia; muco-cele, scroto-cele, varicocele; spiro-meter, lacto-meter; lumb-odynia, scapul-odynia; and many more. 2. Hybrid terms ending in -(o)id, as cancr-oid, ov-oid, admit of obvious correction, by substitution of the Latin term forma for the Greek -18, -id, as in cancriform, ovi-form, &c. In several cases we have genuine cognate terms, derived from the two classical languages, as pterygo-id and ali-form, xipho-id and ensi-form, psallo-ides and lyri-form, thyreo-id and scuti-form, &c. As a general rule, however, in Medical Nomenclature, comparative terms are objectionable; the names of diseases, as well as their definitions, should be derived from positive and self-evident characters, not from comparison with other diseases, the characters of which may be less familiar than those of immediate interest. What value, it may be asked, is attached to the term typhoid, as characteristic of a species of fever? 3. Meaningless words are of frequent occurrence. Take the Greek words taxis and taraxis, the former simply denoting order, the latter disorder or confusion, and, etymologically, signifying nothing more. Yet they are used arbitrarily in medical nomenclature, the former being applied to a special surgical operation, the latter to a specific affection of the eye. The terms compounded with aypa, a seizure, generally of gout, are legitimate, but ment-agra is hybrid and meaningless. Phlegmasia dolens, Delirium tremens, Porrigophyte, Caput gallinaginis, Veru montanum, Vitiligoidea, Chlorodyne, and others too many for insertion, remain as literary curiosities, to excite a smile or a sigh, according to the temperament of the reader. But these things should not be. Surely the members of a noble profession, whose object, and, it may be said, privilege, are the investigation and treatment of the manifold ills that "flesh is heir to," may be fairly expected to exercise a wholesome vigilance in promoting and maintaining the purity of their professional terminology.

2, SUSSEX PLACE, REGENT'S PARK,

September, 1878.

A

DICTIONARY

OF

MEDICAL TERMS.

A-ABD

A (a). In words of Greek derivation beginning with a consonant, this letter is employed, as a prefix, in a privative sense, as in a-cephalous, headless, a-phonia, voicelessness. In words beginning with a vowel, the a becomes an, to prevent the hiatus, as in an-encephalia, brainlessness.

A A (contracted from ȧvá), ' of each.' An expression used in prescriptions, to denote an equal quantity of two or more substances.

AAA. A chemical abbreviation for amalgama, amalgamate. AB. A Latin preposition and prefix to words of Latin origin, signifying from, separating, or departure. Before c and t, it is generally changed into abs, as in abs-cess, abs-tinence, &c.

ABAPTI'STON (aßάTTIOTOs, not to be dipped, that will not sink; Lat. immersabilis). A kind of trepan or trephine, furnished with a ring or knob a little above the extremity, in order to prevent its penetrating the cranium too suddenly, and so injuring the brain. Hence the name διὰ τὸ μὴ βαπτίζεσθαι, says Galen, because it could not be suddenly plunged or immersed into the brain.

ABARTICULATIO (ab, and articulus, a joint). A species of articulation which admits of free motion. The term is the Latin synonym of the Greek diarthrosis, the preposition ab of the former corresponding with the preposition did of the latter, each denoting separation, and so mobility.

ABDO'MEN. The belly or the cavity situated between the thorax and the pelvis; the lower part of the belly, venter abdomine tardus, Juv. The term is perhaps a corrupted form of adipomen, from adeps, adipis, fat; in Cicero, it denotes corpulence.

ABDO'MINAL REGIONS. The abdomen is distinguished into three transverse zones-an upper, a middle, and a lower. Each zone

B

is divided, by perpendicular lines, into three compartments or regionsa middle, and two lateral. They are thus named :

1. Epigastric Region. The middle region of the upper zone, situated immediately over the small end of the stomach. The two lateral regions of this zone, situated under the cartilages of the ribs, are called the hypochondriac.

2. Umbilical Region. The middle region of the middle zone, situated immediately over the umbilicus. The two lateral regions of this zone, situated over the loins, are called the lumbar.

3. Hypogastric Region. The middle region of the lowest zone, situated below the stomach. The two lateral regions of this zone, situated over the ilia, are called the iliac.

4. Inguinal Region. By this term is denoted the vicinity of Poupart's ligament.

ABDOMINAL RING, EXTERNAL. A triangular opening formed by the separation of the fibres of the aponeurosis of the obliquus externus abdominis, descendens. The internal abdominal ring is an oval opening in the fascia transversalis vel Cooperi.

ABDOMINO'SCOPY (abdomen, and oкоriw, to examine). An unclassical term for examination of the abdomen in order to detect disease.

ABDUCENTES NERVI (abducere, to draw from). The name of the sixth pair of nerves, or motores externi, so named from their influence in drawing the eyes outward.

ABDUCTION (abducere, to draw from). 1. The movement of a limb from the median line, or axis of the body. 2. A transverse fracture, in which the broken parts recede from each other. See Adduction.

ABDUCTOR (abducere, to draw from). Abducent. A muscle whose office is to draw a part of the body from the median line; thus the rectus externus is called abductor oculi from its action in drawing the eye outward. Its antagonist is called adductor.

ABERRATION (aberrare, to wander from). 1. A partial alienation of mind. 2. The passage of a fluid into parts not appropriate for its reception. 3. In botany, a deviation from the ordinary structure of related groups of plants; thus a natural order may be aberrant by being intermediate between two other orders.

ABIOGENESIS (a, priv., Bios, life, yéveois, production). Archigenesis. Spontaneous generation. A term applied to the alleged production of living beings without the pre-existence of germs of any kind, and therefore without the pre-existence of parent-organisms. See Biogenesis.

ABLACTATION (ablactare, to wean). This term denotes the cessation of the period of suckling, as regards the mother. The same period, with regard to the infant, is termed weaning.

ABLATION (ablatio, the act or process of taking away). A term applied to any mode of removing tumors. Dunglison uses the term for

evacuation.

ABLE'PSIA (aßλía, blindness, from a, priv., and Bérw, to see). Cæcitas. Blindness; privation of sight.

A'BLUENTS (abluere, to wash away). Detergents. Medicines formerly supposed to cleanse the blood by washing away impurities. ABNORMAL (ab, from, norma, a rule). Irregular; that which

deviates from the usual order, as the position of stamens when opposite to, instead of alternate with, petals. The term anormal denotes anything that is without rule or order.

ABORTION. Abortio. The expulsion of the ovum from the uterus before the sixth month of gestation. Expulsion between the sixth and ninth month is called premature labour. Miscarriage, as popularly understood, is the expulsion of the fœtus at any period of gestation, and in law no distinction is made between abortion and premature labour. [The term abortio is derived from the verb aboriri, the primary meaning of which expresses the setting of the heavenly bodies, as opposed to exoriri, to arise. Hence the term was applied to failure, as of the fœtus.]

1. Abortus. A person born prematurely-the result of abortio. The English confound the two words, describing both as "abortion." 2. Abortive. 1. That which is brought forth prematurely. 2. That which is supposed to produce abortion; but this is more commonly called abortifacient.

ABRA'SIO, ABRAʼSUM (abradere, to scrape or shave off). The former term denotes the act of abrading; the latter, an abraded part, or superficial excoriation with loss of substance, in the form of small shreds. A'BSCESS (abscessus, from abscedere, to separate). Apostema. An imposthume, gathering, or boil; a collection of pus formed or deposited in some tissue or organ. It is so named from the separation of the sides of the cavity which is produced. Where the skin is thinnest, and fluctuation most palpable, the abscess is said to point, or to make its point. If the pus is absorbed, the abscess is said to be dispersed.

ABSENCE OF MIND. A mental phenomenon which seems to consist in a disturbance of the proper balance between conscious and unconscious cerebration, leaving the latter to perform tasks of which it is incapable.

ABSINTHE. A deleterious liquor in which five drachms of the essence of absinthium, or wormwood, are added to one hundred quarts of alcohol.

ABSOLUTE (absolutus, freed from, complete). A term denoting, in chemistry, pure and unmixed, as absolute alcohol, or alcohol entirely freed from water.

ABSORBENTIA (absorbere, to suck up). Antacida. A class of medicines, including the alkalies, the alkaline earths, and the carbonates of these substances, possessing absorbent powers.

ABSORBENTS (absorbere, to suck up). Two distinct sets of vessels, which absorb and convey fluids to the thoracic duct. These are the lacteals, which take up the chyle from the alimentary canal; and the lymphatics, which pervade almost every part of the body, which they take up in the form of lymph.

ABSORPTION (absorbere, to suck up). The function of the absorbents and, it is said, of the capillaries and veins; it is the function by which the fluid and soluble portions of the food enter into the blood of the living animal.

1. Interstitial Absorption. The function by which the particles of the tissue which fill the meshes of the capillary network are removed, as in the atrophy of the tail of the tadpole, and of the pupillary membrane in the foetus, and in the development of cells in bones.

2. Cutaneous Absorption. A function of the skin, by which certain

preparations, rubbed into the skin, have the same action as when given internally, only in a less degree. Thus, mercury, applied in this manner, cures syphilis, and excites salivation; tartrate of antimony is said to occasion vomiting; and arsenic produces poisonous effects. ABSORPTION, in Chemistry (absorbere, to suck up). This term denotes the passage of a gas or vapour into a liquid or solid substance; or that of a liquid into the pores of a solid. Thus, water absorbs carbonic acid gas, lime absorbs water, &c.

ABSTEMIOUSNESS (abs, from, temetum, strong drink). The habit of being abstemious or sparing in the use of food and strong drinks. The word expresses a greater degree of abstinence than temperance; and it differs from abstinence because the latter may be temporary. See Temetum.

ABSTERGENTS (abstergere, to cleanse, to wipe dry). Abstersives. Lotions, or other applications, for cleansing sores. Applied to suppurating surfaces, they are called detersives.

ABSTINENCE (abstinere, to abstain). Cura famis. Excessive or total privation of food. See Abstemiousness.

ABSTRACTION (abstrahere, to draw from). The process of distilling a liquid from any substance; a separation of volatile parts by the process of distillation.

ACA'NTHA (äκavea, a thorn). A spine or prickle of a plant. A prickly fin of a fish. A spinous process of a vertebra. The term has been used for the spina dorsi, or entire vertebral column.

ACA'RDIAC (a, priv., kapdía, the heart). Excors. Wanting a heart; a term applied to the fœtus when it is destitute of a heart.

A'CARUS (akapi, a mite or tick, from a, priv., and Keiow, to cut; a kind of animal atom). A genus of minute animals belonging to the Acarides, a division of the Arachnides.

1. Acarus autumnalis. The harvest-bug, mower's mite, wheal-worm, or rouget; a minute animal which attacks the legs during the harvest season, and thence proceeds to every other part of the body.

2. Acarus folliculorum. The name given by Dr. Simon, of Berlin, to an animalcule found in the sebaceous follicles. It is also called demodex folliculorum. See Steatozoon.

3. Acarus scabiei. The itch-animalcule; a parasite which infests the human scarf-skin, commonly between the fingers, in the bends of the wrists and elbows, the same parts of the legs, and the front of the trunk of the body. See Dermatozoa.

4. Acarus Stockholmii. The Stockholm acarus; a parasitic animalcule more than three times as large as the harvest-bug and itch-animalcule; it was found on a lady residing in Stockholm.

5. Acarus Crossi. A minute animal supposed by Mr. Crosse to have been developed in a solution of silicate of potassa, when submitted to slow galvanic action for the purpose of obtaining crystals of silex. ACATA POSIS (a, priv., κатánоois, deglutition). An inability to swallow liquids; a term synonymous with hydrophobia.

ACAULE'SCENT (a, priv., Kauλós, a cabbage-stalk). Stemless; a term applied to certain plants, of which the stem is so short as to be almost reduced to nothing, as in cnicus acaulis. The term subcaulescent would be preferable in these cases.

ACCE'SSIO (accedere, to approach). Accessus. A term employed by the Latin writers in a sense precisely similar to that of the Greek