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Show Description (y' the Situation and Nmnlw q/‘t/Jc Glands of Mir: {\BSORIilzNTh. I45 which are not usually covered, they are exposed to every body‘s view, and almost constantly excite the idea of scrophula, and of the blood‘s beinn INTERCOSTAL GLANDS. These are often situated two and two by the heads of the ribs, and I have injected them sometimes from the thoracic duct, contrary to the tainted with an hereditary disease, which may be communicated to the off: spring of the person. The inflammation of those glands not unfrequently terminates in suppuration. They burst of themselves, continue discharg- un- course of the valves; they are very small, but perfectly distinct, and, ing for months or years, or alternately heal and break out again, till the age less in very scrophulous children, they are never so enlarged as to be very remarkable. They seem to be placed there as so many guards on the thom raeic duet, that nothing unchanged should be permitted to pass into it. offourtecn or sixteen; when the increased vigor of the constitution, and the changes that take place respecting the organs of generation, put a stop to the disease, the patient for the remainder of his life shows no more symptoms ofscrophula, or at least not till towards the end of life, when tlie vigar of the body declining, permits this disposition again to shew itself. THE GLANDS OF THE NECK. The glands of the neck are almost as ntnnerous as those of the mesen- tery; they are situated chiefly on the sides of the neck; some of them he immediately under the skin, and accompany the external jugular veins; but by far the greater number accompany the internal jugular veins and carotid arteries. " Porro hate glandularum series cum pharynge continua- tur ct adlatus ct ad postcriorem ejus facicm, secundum iter jugularis venze Verum agmen illud jugulare dextrum cum vena ct Carotidis arterizc Haller. cava, utriusque vcro lateris cum aspera arteria continuatur." These glands frequently swell in children, from scald heads, runnings of the ears, inflammations of the gums, and alveolar processes in teething, and recover after the teething, &c. are over, constituting what Sauvages calls scro- pbulrzfl/garr; that is, an apparent,transicnt, not real serophula: such swellings ofthc glands take place between three and five years ofage. They frequently swell and enlarge from suppurations and ulcerations of the integuments on the top ofthe head, in adults not scrophulous ; and they frequently inflame and enlarge from scrophulous disposition alone. I have known them swell to an enormous size; and, though commonly accompanied with little pain, I have known the inflammation changed from inert to active; and the pain and irritation of the parts, together with the affection of the mind, have worn out and destroyed the patient. Commonly, however, the scrophulous all fCCtion of those glands is more ofiensive to the eye of the spectators, and troublesome to the patient, than dangerous. As they are situated in parts which 'W ~'" .3. W ""V"~F"M~ m... .«2 mew-WWW These glands not only enlarge from particular affections of the teeth and jaws, and of the integuments on the outside of the head, but from affec- tions of the brain and its coverings; a proof not only of there being absorbents in the brain, but of the course which these absorbcnts i take. These gland also swell from ulcerations of the integuments in the nape ot' the neck. THE GLANDS OF THE AXILLA. These last mentioned glands blend in with anotherplexus,situated underthe claviclcs and in the axillze; these are not so numerous as those of the neck, though in general theyare larger. They belong to the absorbents ofthe arms, of the breasts, and of the integuments behind the scapulae; and inflame and enlarge in partieularafTections of those parts. Theyeven receive absorbents from the cavity of the chest; and I have known them swell from pleurisy, peripneumony, and pulmonary consumption. A nerve from the second dorsal perforates the intercostal muscles, and also goes to the axilla, at the same place with these absorbents. These glands, particularly, swell in cancerous affections of the breasts of women. It is sometimes possible to extirpate them with the diseased breasts themselves, but more frequently their swelling on these occasions is a mark of the disease being incurable; and I have known them form a schirrous mass, and surround the axillary artery in such a manner, that it was impossible to extirpate them, without U cxtirpaung |
