Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/940

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tilling, as the hoe cannot be brought in, nor the ground by any means ilirred between them to give it a new breaking, and consequently afford them new food. Experiments have abundantly proved, that in large grounds of wheat where the different methods have been tried, thofe parts where the Intervals were largeft have produced the greatell crops, and thofe where hoeing was ufed without dung have been much richer, than thofe where dung was ufed without hoeing. If it were poflible that plants could {land as thick, and thrive as well over the whole Surface of the ground, as they do in the rows Separated by thefe large Intervals, the crops of corn So produced would be vaStly greater than any that have been heard of j but the truth is, that plants receive their growth not according to the ground they itand on, but to the ground they can extend their roots into ; and therefore a Single row may contain more plants than a large Interval can nourifh, and therefore the fame number that {land in that row, and no more than thefe could be nouriih'd if fcattered over the whole Interval; and they would be much worfe nourifhed in that way, becaufe while the Interval is void, the earth may be flirred about them, and new roots will be formed in great numbers from every one broken by the instruments, and new nou- rishment laid before thefe roors by the breaking the particles or earth, by which the plants will have fupplies that they cannot have when fcattered over the whole furface, becauie the ground is then all occupied, and cannot be moved be- tween the plants.

The horSe-hoeing which takes place in thefe large Intervals, and is to be repeated Several times : once or twice are of great advantage, but the oStner it is repeated the better the crop will Succeed. In the beginning, or while the plants are young, it is to be done only in the middle of the Inter- val, that the roots of the tender plants may not be injured by coming too near them ; but in the grown plants the hoe may be brought very near their roots without any fear of harm from it ; and tho' the larger roots are many of them broken off by it, they are fo Soon Supplied with new ones, that no ill conSequence was ever known to attend it. Poor land tho' it be ever fo Jight, Should have many hoeings ; for the plants receive but little nourishment from its natural pofture, and it is therefore neceilary to make a continual Supply of the artificial. The young roots multiplied by the breaking of the old ones with the hoe, are fuller of la&eal mouths Sor receiving oS nourishment, than the old ones ; and it is therefore no wonder, that the falter thefe are pro- pagated the better the plant thrives. And there is a difad- vantage in the plants of corn Sown in the common way, which is, that their (talks being as numerous, or nearly So at fir±t as afterwards, they very quickly exhauft the ground, while the plants in rows with Intervals between have much fewer Stalks at firit, and only increaSe in number as their roots are increased by the cutting, and the nourishment Ui- creafed alSo by the Same operation. Tull's HorSehocino- Hufbandry, p. 36.

The earth about the Sown plants in the common way Soon hardens and Shuts out the benefits oSthe atmofphere, where- as in the other way the hoe keeps it foft and open, ready to- receive all the benefits of rains and dews ; and tho' the crop of corn from the hoed Interval way Should be twice as large as the other, the land is yet leSt twice as rich for the next crop.

It is impoffible to bring thefe calculations to mathematical rules, but it is very certain that a fown crop Succeeding a large undung'd hoed crop, is much better than a Sown crop that Succeeds a Small dung'd fown crop ; and experience {hews that poor worn-out heath-ground will produce four fucceflive good hoed crops, the latter all better and better till the whole is become at length good ground by the bene- fit of the hoeing, in Spite of the nouriihment drained out by the potatoes.

1 he wider the Intervals are, the more earth may be divided ; for the row takes up the fame room with a wide or a nar- row Interval-, and therefore with the wide the unhoed part bears a lefs proportion to the hoed part than in the narrow. There are many ways of hoeing with the hoe-plow, but there is not room to turn two deep and clean furrows in an Interval that is narrower than four foot eight inches ; for if it want much of this breadth, one at leaft of thefe furrows will reach and fall upon the next row, which will be very injurious to the plants, except of grown faint-foin or Some other Such plants, which can bear to have the earth pulled over them with a harrow.

All Soils and all Situations are not equally proper for this me- thod of planting in rows, with large Intervals and hoein^ between. The lighteft foils Seem the belt for it, and the tough and wet clays the worft.

Such grounds as lie on the Sides of hills are alSo IeSs proper than others, for this work.

This method is not fo proper in common fields, but that iiot in refpe&of the foil, but of the hufbandry of the owners, Who are ufually in the old way, and change the fpecies of corn, and make it neceflary to fallow every Seconal third, or fourth year.

INT .

INTESTINES {Cycl.)—7Vounds of the Intestines. When a large wound is made in the cavity of the abdomen, which not only lets out the Intejlines, but alfo divides Some part of them ; the wounded part of the Intejlines are always to be Stitched up before they are returned, by which means the wound heals the more readily ; and the difcharge of chyle and faeces into the cavity of the abdomen is prevented, from, which dangerous Symptoms would otherwiie have enfued. And altho' wounds of the Intejlines, efpecially of the Small guts, admit of little or no hopes of a cure ; yet as the great guts fometimes admit of the future with advantage, it is bet- ter to ufe a doubtful remedy, than none. Small wounds of the Intejlines, however, or Such as do not exceed the diame- ter of a gooSe-quill, are by no means to be Stitched, but left to nature ; by which means there is much greater hopes of fuccefs, than from irritating them with the Suture ; but large wounds of the Intejlines, tho' they Seldom admit of cure, yet it is always to be attempted by means of the Movers future, before the lntejline is returned. To perform this, you are to be provided with a fmall needle threaded with Silk, an amflant fhould take hold of one part of the gut by a fine piece of linnen well air'd ; while the Surgeon ihouUi hold the other part in his leSt hand, and Sew up the whole wound after the glover's manner, leaving very imall (paces, not more than the twelfth of an inch each between each of the flitches. The lait Hitch in this operation muSt be Saft- ned with a knot, but the other end mult hang out about a foot out of the abdomen, by means of which the Siik may be drawn out when the lntejline is healed. After this is per- formed, the wound of the abdomen is next to be taken care of, and Stitched up, keeping the lower or depending part of the wound open with a tent, till all the preternatural fluids are difcharged out of the cavity of the abdomen, and till the union of the wound in the lntejline Shall give leave to draw away the Sdk with which the Suture was perSormed on it. As the modern Surgeor.s, however, have found that few are Saved who have received any large wound in the Intejlines* and that in thoSe Sew who do recover, the wounded parts, from the hnejiefs of the coat of the gut do not properly unite, but rather adhere to the inner part of the peritoneum, or to the omentum, or to fome other of the Intejlines, they rather chufe now to let alone the operation of the future of the gut, and Substitute a gentler method of cure. They pafs a waxed thread thro' a hne needle, and with this they fallen the wounded part of the lntejline to the internal orifice of the wound in the abdomen. The thread that in this cafe hangs out of the abdomen, is to be So firmly fixed by the applica- tion of Sticking plaifters to the wound, that the lntejline cannot recede from the part to which it was fastened, nor can it evacuate any of its contents into the cavity of the abdomen. When this operation is well performed, the ln- tejline eafily adheres to the internal part of the abdomen, and the patient Suffers infinitely lefs pain and hazard, than from the former way of making the future. The fame me-. thod of cure alfo is the proper one Sor wounds of the fto- mach, where they are within the reach of the hand, and it is Sometimes crowned with SucceSs. Heijler's Surgery, p. 56.

Lojs of Subjlance in the Intestines. Where any part oS the Intejlines is carry'd away, the caSe is plainly deSperate, and 'tis indeed wonderful that perfons thus wounded have not all died upon the Spot, or in the operation of making the future,, till Some of the late eminent Surgeons obferved that the lips oS the Intejlines fo wounded, would Sometimes unexpectedly adhere to the wound in the abdomen, and took this hint from nature toward a cure in fuch deSperate cafes. When- ever a Surgeon thcreSore is called in a caSe of this kind, after diligently examining the ftate of the upper part of the ln- tejline which has fullered the lofs of fuMlance, he Should Stitch it to the external wound ; Sor by this means the pa- tient may not only be Saved from inftant death, but there have been inflances where the wounded lntejline has been So far healed, that the fasces which ufed to be voided by the anus, have been voided by the wound in the abdomen. And this, tho' from the neceffity of wearing a tin or fdver pipe, or keeping cloths constantly upon the part to receive the ex- crement, may Seem to be very troublefbme ; yet it is Sure- ty far better to part with one of the convenienries of life, than to part with life itfclf ; beSide the excrements that are voided by this pallage, are not So offenSive in Smell, as thofe voided per anum.

The fame method of cure may conveniently alfo be put in practice, where any part of the lntejline is mortify'd, by hav- ing been thrult out of the abdomen ; for in this caSe if you tie up the mefenteric arteries, the corrupted or mortify'd part of the lntejline may be cut off, and the remaining Sound part made to adhere to the wound of the abdomen. And it is Surely better to try this method and Save if it be only a few by it, than to leave all in this unhappy Situation to perifh without help. Heijler, p. 65.

We have inflances of mortified pieces of the Intejlines itt the Hernise cut away, and a cure made by keeping the ex- tremities of the gut near to each other, and near to the rings •f the mufcles, with a flitch through the mefentery. The 8 ends