Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/533

SPITZWEG. 459 SPLINT. ■"Village Street," both in the National Gallery, Berlin. Reproductions of his works appeared in the collections Spitziceg Mappe (Munich, 1887) and Spit^aer; Album (ib., 1888). Consult: Regnet, in Zeitsclirift fiir bildendc Kunst (Leip- zig, 1880), and Holland, in Allyemeine deutsche Bioijruphic, xx.w. (ib., 1893). SPLAY. The sloping or bevelled opening in window recesses and other such openings. Also the corner taken oft' the outer angle of such ojjenings. SPLEEN ( Lat. splcn, from Gk. o-irX^i', spleen ; connected with Lat. lien, Skt. plihoii, spleen). The largest and most important of the so-called ductless glands. It is generally oval in form, somewhat concavo-convex, soft, of very brittle consistence, highly vascular, of a dark bluisli-red color, and situatett in the left hypochondriac region, with its interior slightly concave surface embracing the cardiac end of the stomach and the tail of the pancreas. In the adult it is usu- ally about 5 inches in length, 3 or 4 in breadth, and an inch or an inch and a half in thickness, and weighs about 7 ounces. At birth its weight in proportion to that of the entire body is as 1 to 350, which is nearly the same ratio as in the adult; while in old age the organ decreases in vveiglit. the ratio being as 1 to 700. The size of the spleen is increased after gastric digestion, and is large in highly fed and small in starved animals. In intermittent fevers and leucocythfe- mia it is much enlarged, weighing occasionally from 18 to 20 pounds, and constituting what is popularly known as the ague-cake. The spleen is invested externally by the peri- toneum and inside this by a fibrous capsule giving off from its inner surface numerous small fibrous bands termed trahecuUe, which unite at numerous points with one another, and run in all directions. The parenchyma or proper substance of the spleen occupies the interspaces of the above-described areolar framework, and is a soft pulpy mass of a dark reddish-brown color, con- sisting of colorless and colored elements. The colorless elements consist of granular matter, of nuclei about the size of the red blood-disks, and a few nucleated vesicles, and constitute one- half or two-thirds of the whole substance of the pulp in well-nourislied animals, while they dimin- ish in number, and sometimes altogether disap- pear, in starved animals. The colored elements consist of red blood-disks and of colored cor- puscles either free or included in cells ; some- times enlarged blood-disks are seen included in a cell, hut more frequently the inclosed disks are altered in form and color, as if undergoing retrograde metamorphoses. Besides these, nu- merous deep-red, or reddish-yellow, or lilack cor- puscles and crystals, closely allied to the ha-ma- tin of the blood, are seen" diffused through the pulp substance. The venous blood of the spleen is carried away by the splenic vein, which contrilnites to form the great portal venous system, distributed through the liver: While arterial blood is sup- plied by tlic splenic artery, the largest branch of the ccpliac axis. The branches of this artery subdivide and ramify like the brandies of a tree, with the Mnlpir/hian. or splenic corpuscles at- tached to them like fruit. These splenic cor- puscles, originally discovered by Malpighi, are whitisli spherical bodies, which' are either con- nected with the smaller arterial branches by Vol. xvni.— 30. short pedicles, or are sessile upon their sheatlia. They vary considerably in size and number, their diameter usually ranging from 1-30 to 1-00 of an inch. Each consists of a mend)ranous capsule, homogeneous in structure, and formed by a pro- longation from the sheath of the artery. The blood capillaries form a delicate plexus within these corpuscles. With regard to its uses the .spleen may be re- garded as a storehouse of nutritive material, which may be drawn upon according to the re- quirements of the system, and the constant pres- ence in large amounts of certain nitrogenous substances seems to indicate that some special nitrogenous metabolism takes place in it. The formation of both white and red blood cells probably also occurs in the spleen as well as the disintegration of exliausted blood corpuscles. SPLEENWORT. See Asplenium, and Col- ored Plate of Ferns. SPLICING. See Knotting and Splicing. SPLINT (Swed. splint, spike, forelock, flat iron peg, Dan. splint, splinter; connected with Eng. split). In surgery, a certain mechanical contrivance for keeping a fractured limb in its proper position, and for preventing any motion of the fractured ends ; it may also be employed for securing perfect immobility of the parts to which it is applied in other cases, as in diseased joints, after resection of joints, etc. Manj' dif- ferent kinds of splints are used, but wood and plaster of Paris are most common. In using wooden splints we take light strips slightlj' wider tlian the limb and long enough to reach beyond the joints that lie to citlicr side of the injury. The fractured ends are Ijrought as nearly as possible into their normal relation, thoi-oughly padded with absorbent cotton to prevent pressure or friction, and then the splints are applied and firmly bandaged to the limb, so as to prevent all motion. Wire netting, gutta percha, leather, and other materials are also frequently employed, as they can be molded to the shape of the limb. In the same way plaster of Paris can be applied to one side of a limb, carefully molded to it, and held in place by bandages. All movable splints, however, have the disadvantage that they must be readjusted from time to time, and thus the fractured limb is subjected to handling. The plaster of Paris splint is desirable, there- fore, in many cases. The limb is carefully pro- tected W'ith a light layer of non-absorbent cot- ton, especial care being used to guard bony prom- inences and to avoid any unevenness. Coarse, wide-meshed bandages well rubbed with dry plaster of Paris arc immersed for a moment in water and then applied like ordinary bandages, each layer being rubbed into the one beneath so as to make a firm cohesive splint. The plaster should include the joints to either side of the injury. This splint may be both strengthened and lightened by the introduction of wooden or metal strips between the layers of plaster. Dry- ing takes place rapidly and gives a firm resisting splint. In compound fractures or in operative cases a fenestruni may be loft over the wound proper and an oiiportunity thus given to attend to the required dressings without disturbing the splint. SPLINT. A bony enlargement on the horse's leg between the knee and the fetlock, usually ap- pearing on the inside of the fore leg, frequently situated between the large and small canon bones.