two or three years. They filled several large volumes, but not one of them is known to exist to-day. He wrote at great length, as we are assured, on the subject of surgery, a subject in which he took an active interest. He taught that ulcers, no matter in what part of the body they may be located, require the same kind of treatment.
If an ulcer is excavated, it is necessary to bring about a filling-up
of the excavation; if its surface is on a level with the surrounding
skin, the aim should be to make it cicatrize; if the growth of new
tissue is excessive, the redundant portion should be destroyed by
burning with caustic; and, finally, if the ulcer is of recent development
and bleeds readily, the attempt should be made, by approximating
the edges, to effect an immediate healing.
In the treatment of chronic ulcers which show little or
no disposition to heal, and which, when they do finally heal,
are very prone to break open afresh, Thessalus urges the
great importance of ascertaining, if possible, the cause or
causes of this behavior. If it be found that the trouble is
due to some weakness or abnormal predisposition of the
part in which the ulcer is located, or that the condition of
the entire body is probably the real cause of the trouble,
he recommends the employment of "metasyncritic remedies"—that
is, remedial measures which effect a marked
change in the individual's vital processes throughout the
body, and also such as exert an alterative effect upon the
ulcer itself. Among the measures of the first class he
enumerates the following: Various forms of physical
exercise; alternately increasing and diminishing the
amount of nourishment taken; and perhaps the taking
of an emetic at the very commencement of the treatment.
As to the second class of measures—those needed to bring
about a change in the ulcer itself—he makes the following
recommendations: Remove from the diseased tissues as
much as will restore the parts, as nearly as possible, to the
condition of a healthy wound, and then adopt the treatment
suited for the latter condition. In cases in which the ulcer
heals and then subsequently breaks open again, it will
