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others of the fame kind, to prevent the difbrder from fpread- ing; and to make the corrupted parts feparate from the found, the corrofive lixivium of Boerhaave is greatly in re- pute, and much ufed on thefe occafions. It is made of three ounces of very ftrong quick-lime, mixed with nine ounces of pot-afhes, firft ground feparately to powder, and afterwards mixed, adding a little water, they are then to be put into a glafs veffel, and fet in a cellar to run by deli- quium.
As foon as they are found to become fluid, the matter muft be put into a filtre of coarfe paper, and the clear liquor that runs through muft be kept for ufe. It is to be ufed by dip- ping a bruih or feather into it, and rubbing it over the part affected once or twice a day; or fine linnen-rags may be wetted with it, and applied all over the part; not forget- ting, however, at the fame time, the ufe of the before or- dered cataplafm : this application is to be continued till the corrupted part begins to caft off in crufis or fcales ; and when this is the cafe, it muft be dreffed with the common digeftive, and when perfectly cleanfed, healed with a vul- nerary balfam.
Another cauftic, highly commended by Bellofte in thefe cafes, is made by diflblving one part of crude mercury in two parts, either of fpirit of nitre, or of aqua fortis. This is to be rubbed over the parts as the former, and will occa- sion a fpeedy feparation. Several great authors, however, advife the ufing the knife, and actual cautery in thefe cafes, dividing and burning down to the found parts ; but the cru- elty of this method, and the pain, and fometimes danger that attend it, make the methods of cure by fuppuratives, and mild cauftics, much to be preferred : indeed, the fur- geons in general are not now fo fond of calling in the actual cautery as formerly.
Finally, when the" fpkacelus is fo deeply affixed in any part of the upper or lower extremity, that it has penetrated thro' the mufcles as far as the bone, and has either refifted the force of all medicines, or the proper time for the applying them has been neglected ; in this cafe, to preferve the reft of the body, the injured part muft be amputated. Heifer's, Surgery, p. 217.
SPH^CULiE, among the Romans, were tickets of wood, tejfera ligneee, by which the emperors fcattered their prefents to people of both fexes in the theatre, or circus. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. in voc.
SPRfEROMACHIA, Zfaipputx**, in antiquity, a particular kind of boxing, wherein the combatants had balls of ftone or lead in their hands, which were called &p»?j«i. Potter, Archaeol. Graec. lib. 2. cap. 21. Tom. I. p. 448. See the article Boxing.
SPHAGITIDES, a name given by fome authors to the jugu- lar veins.
SPHAGNUM, in botany, the name of a genus of modes, the characters of which are thefe; They produce heads or capfules only of one kind, which differ alfo from thofe of all the other moffes, m that they have no calyptra, or other covering : thefe ftand on very fhort pedicles, and are there- fore fo guarded by the leaves, as not to need any other co- vering. The fphagna are divided into two orders, the one comprehending the branched kinds, and the other the un- branched ones : thefe are diftinguifhed by fome by the terms cauliferous and acaidous. See Tab. of Moffes, N° 8. Dillen. Hift. Mufc. p. 242.
Of the firft order there are nine known fpecies. 1. The larger foft and hollow-leaved bog- fpha gnu m. This grows in wet places in vaft beds, and rifes to a foot high, with clufters of leaves at the heads of all the branches. 2. The foft bog-fpbagnum with finer leaves. This is as tall, or more fo, than the former, but is much flenderer, and the leaves much fmaller and finer. The firft is ufually of a dead white, and this laft of a fomewhat reddifh hue. 3. The bright green-pointed fphagnum with oval heads. This grows in Targe tufts in the boggy places on the Welch mountains. 4. The rough fphagnum with red heads. The ftalks of this are not above an inch long, and not branched, but folded, and interwoven one with another into thick tufts. It ufu- ally grows upon rocks, but fometimes on the flumps of old trees. 5. The hoary nodofe fphagnum. This is all over hairy, the ftalks are fomewhat longer than thofe of the for- mer kind, and the heads are ripe in December. This ufu- ally grows on the ftumps of old trees. 6. The fphagnum with numerous heads, all bending one way. This is very common on the ftumps of old trees, and produces its heads in November. It is of a very lively and pleafant green.
7. The plain-feathered fphagnum. This is an elegant fpe- cies, and grows on the bodies of old trees in Patagonia.
8. The wavy -feathered fphagnum with hairy heads. This is of the fame country with the former, and grows to three or four inches in length. 9. The wavy-feathered fphagnum with fcaly heads. This is found on the trunks of trees in the woods of Germany. Dillen. Hift. Mufc. p. 253.
Of the fphagna of the fecond order, or thofe which have no branched ftalks, there are only four known fpecies. 1. The dwarf hair-leaved fphagnum. This is the fmalleft and fineft of all the plants of this clafs, and is common in fmall tufts
about way-fides in many places. 2. The larger dwarf hufc bous fphagnum. This grows only to the height of a few lines, and is compofed of numerous leaves, furrcunding one another fo, as to form fevferal bulbs. The heads are eafief to he diftinguifhed by the touch than the fight, for they lie hid between the leaves, and are fmaller than poppy-feeds. 3. The lefler dwarf bulbous fphagnum. The leaves of this are much fmaller than thofe of the preceding kind. 4. The largeft rlwaif fphagnum with briftles. The capfules of this fpecies, as well as the leaves, are much larger than thofe of any other of the acaulous kinds, and the middle rib of every leaf runs out into a kind of briftle. SPHENOIDES (Cyr/.)— The fpkenoidal, or cuneiform bone* is fituated in the lower part of the cranium, a little toward its forepart, making the middle or bafts of the fkull, and thence taking its name of os hafilare.
It is of a very odd figure, its greateft extent is tranfVerfe, and it may in fome manner be faid to rtpiefent a bat witH its wings extended. Its pofterior, or thickeft part, by which it is joined to the apophysis of the os occtpitis, may be called its body ; the reft of it is wholly made up of emi- nences and cavities. And in order to examine thefe metho- dically, the bone muft, be divided into two fides, the one external, the greateft part of which may be feen in one entire fkull, the other internal, which does not appear till the fkull is opened.
The eminences on the outfide are thefe. Two temporal apophyfes, which are the largeft of all the proceffes of this bone, and at the greateft diffance from each other, called the great wings of the os fphenoides, and thefe are fometimes, though rarely, feparated from the reft of the bone by tranfVerfe futures. Two orbitary apophyfes, which form a conftderable portion of the orbit next the temples. A fmall fharp procefs, formed like a bird's bill between the orbitary apophyfes. Two pterygoide apophyfes, each of which is divided into two alas : one internal, which is the largeft, the other external, the lower end of which is in the fhapc of a hook 3 and each of thefe alx is again divided into two fides, the one internal toward the palate^ the other external toward the temples. Two fpinal apophyfes, A little anterior eminence above the fharp procefs, for the ar- ticulation of this bone with the os ethmoides ; but in fome fubjects, inftead of this eminence, there is only a little notch.
The external cavities of this bone are two portions of the. temporal foffse ; . two pterygoide foffse ; the lower ends of thefe are divided by a little notch, or flit, of an irregular figure, which may be called the f Jura palatina ; a little ob- long foffula at the root of the internal ala; two fuperior orbitary, or fpkenoidal fiffures ; a little notch at the end of each of thefe fiffures, for the paffage of an artery of the dura mater ; two temporal notches ; two maxillary notches, the edges of which help to form the two inferior orbitary fif- fures, which may be called fiffures fpheno-maxillares ; two holes for the fuperior maxillary nerves ; two other holes on one fide of the former, called pterygoide* which, in an en- tire fkull, are hid by the other bones : two oval holes, for the inferior maxillary nerves ; two little fpinal holes, each of which tranfmits an artery of the dura mater, but fome- times thefe are only notches ; a little hole between the two maxillary holes ; and a little groove on one fide of the fpi- nal apophyfis, which forms part of the euftachian tube. The internal eminences are two thin fharp tranfverfe apo- phyfes, which form the fuperior orbitary fiffures, called the Utile wings of the fpkenoidal bone; a little procefs, in fome fubjects, between thefe two thin apophyfes, for the articu- lation with the os ethmoides, which in fome other fubjects is a notch. Four clynoide apophyfes, two anterior, two pofterior ; which laft are fometimes united in one, and fometimes run forward all the way to the anterior proceffes, forming a kind of bridge, under which the internal caro- tid artery panes at its laft curvature. This paffage has alfo fometimes been found divided into two by a thin bony feptum, befide other varieties ; one or two fmall productions where the internal carotid enters the cranium; two little ftyloide proceffes, or hooks, which in fome fubjects join the extremity of the os occipitis, before the perfect union of thefe bones.
The internal cavities are two portions of the large middle foifie of the bafis cranii ; two fuperior, orbitary of fpke- noidal proceffes ; two optic holes ; a fmall fuperior, orbitary hole, near the end of each fphenoidal fiffure, which is often no more than a notch ; a fmall groove at the extremities of the fame fiffures ; a depreffion between the clynoide apo- phyfes, called fella fpkenoidahs, fella turcica, and foffa pitui- taria. Here are alfo feen almoft all the holes mentioned on its outfide, and it appears that the fuperior maxillary hole ought more juftly to be called a fhort canal. Befide thefe, there are alfo two very confiderable cavities, called the fphenoidal fwufes, fituated in the thick portion of this bone, under the ante- rior part of the fella turcica, and middle fpace between the two optic holes, reaching as far as the fharp procefs, or bill, already defcribed; thefe are commonly divided by a bony feptum, and they open before on each fide of the fharp I procefsj
