On the treatment of strictures of the urethra by mechanical dilatation, and other diseases attendant on them: with some anatomical observations on the natural form and dimensions of the urethra, with a view to a more precise adaptation and use of the instruments employed in their relief / by James Briggs.

Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the treatment of strictures of the urethra by mechanical dilatation, and other diseases attendant on them: with some anatomical observations on the natural form and dimensions of the urethra, with a view to a more precise adaptation and use of the instruments employed in their relief / by James Briggs. 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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    the extremity of the staff or sound has actually pene- trated into the bladder; in other words, the exact length of the instrument contained ivithin it. For in the one case the extent of the incision into the bladder must in some degree be determined, and painful or unavailing efforts sometimes avoided in the other. Yet this point may be easily determined by previously measuring the length of the urethra by means of a graduated catheter, a method which, as far as I know, has not yet been resorted to in this country. SECTION I. Of the Length, Dimensions, Curvature, S^c. of the Urethra.. I. The extent of the male urethra, and the length and dimensions of the several portions of the canal, from the orifice in the glans penis to its termination or entrance into the bladder, have been very variously represented by anatomists or surgeons who have di- rected their inquiries to this subject, with a view to its applications to practical purposes. From the description of the instruments used in the time of Celsus,* it is reasonable to conclude that the * “ .^neae fistulse fiunt, quae et omni corpore, ampliori minorique, sufficiant, ad mares, tres habendae sunt. Ex virilibus maxima decern et quinque est digitorum, media duodecim, minima novem.”—Lib. vii. cap. 3. sect. 7. I'he Roman digitus being nearly one-fifth less than the English inch, would reduce this measure of the ancient instrument to about twelve inches.