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supply, as by pressure 'upon, or injury to, the blood-vessels. A comparatively slight injury affecting a portion of the body imperfectly supplied with blood may give rise to an inflammatory See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition which in a healthy See also:

PART

part might pass unnoticed, but which, in consequence of imperfect nutrition, may end in mortification. If the flow of arterial blood only is arrested, the part depending upon it for nutrition becomes numb, See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold and shrivelled, and the See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of mortification known as dry See also:

GANGRENE (from Gr. y&yypawa, an eating sore, from ypaivewv, to gnaw)

gangrene occurs. This is See also:

apt to be met with in oldish persons with diseased vessels and feeble See also:

heart-See also:

ACTION

action, especially if the blood is rendered less nutritious by the presence of See also:

DIABETES (from Gr. &a, through, and faivecv, to pass)

diabetes or of See also:

KIDNEY

kidney disease. The See also:

RULE

rule of treatment in all cases of threatened mortification is to keep the part warm by See also:

FLANNEL

flannel or See also:

cotton-See also:

WOOL, WORSTED AND WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES

wool, but to avoid all methods which unduly See also:

HURRY (or URRV), SIR JOHN (d. 165o)

hurry the returning circulation. Such increase would give rise to excessive reaction, which, in tissues already weakened, might actually produce mortification. When the part is dead it should be wrapped up in dry antiseptic dressings to prevent putrefaction. The surgeon should then wait until the " See also:

LINE

line of demarcation," a linear ulceration, between the living and the dead part is evident, and then, if the See also:

case permits, should amputate at a higher level. In spreading gangrene, in which acute See also:

SEPSIS (Gr. Qi7,/iss, putrefaction), or SEPTIC INFECTION

sepsis is See also:

PRESENT

present, and in which no line of demarcation forms, the best See also:

CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance for the patient is promptly to amputate high up in See also:

sound tissues. In these cases the blood is generally poisoned, and if the patient recovers from the See also:

PRIMARY

primary See also:

SHOCK, or COLLAPSE

shock of the operation, the disease may reappear in the stump, and See also:

lead to a fatal result. See also:

Frost-bite.—Under the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of cold, the blood-vessels See also:

contract, and less blood is conveyed to the tissues.

Frost-bite is particularly apt to attack the feet, the hands, and the tips of the ears. The condition is unassociated with See also:

pain, for the See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason that the nerves are benumbed. As no blood is passing into the skin, the parts look like See also:

TALLOW (M.E. talugh, talg, cf. Du. talk, L. Ger. talg ; the connexion with O.E. taelg, dye, or Goth, tulgus, firm, is doubtful)

tallow, and thus attract the See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention of the companions of the frost-bitten See also:

man, who perhaps has no thought of there being anything amiss. But because the tissues are frost-bitten it does not follow that they will not recover. The See also:

GREAT

great danger is that, as the blood in the vessels becomes thawed, there will be so much reactionary flow through the tissues that acute inflammation will follow. And this inflammation of the damaged tissues is very likely to cause mortification. The re-See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of the circulation, therefore, should be undertaken with the greatest possible care. The frost-bitten individual must not be brought near a See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire nor even into a warm See also:

ROOM

room. Nothing warm should come in contact with the affected parts. The best thing to do is to rub them with See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow or with cold See also:

WATER

water. The thawing is associated with much pain, and in the case of the See also:

hand or See also:

FOOT

foot this may be diminished by raising the part, so as to help the return of the venous blood to the heart. If mortification follows, the parts become See also:

black, and care should be taken to prevent their becoming invaded by the germs of putrefaction.

(E.

End of Article: MORTIFICATION

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