place.]

In case an arrow is lodged within the cavity of the thorax, the
surgeon is directed to trepan the sternum (_os pectoris_), remove the
head of the arrow gently from the shaft, and withdraw the shaft itself
through the original wound of entrance. If the head is lodged beneath
or between the ribs, an opening is to be made into the nearest
intercostal space, the ribs forced apart by a suitable wedge and
the head thus extracted. The wound through the soft parts is to be
kept open by a tent greased with lard and provided with a suitable
prolongation (_cauda aliqua_) to facilitate its extraction and prevent
its falling into the cavity of the chest.

Wounds of the heart, lungs, liver, stomach and diaphragm are regarded
as hopelessly mortal (f. 233d), and the physician is advised to have
nothing to do with them. Wounds of the heart are recognized by the
profuse haemorrhage and the black color of the blood; those of the
lung by the foamy character of the blood and the dyspnoea; wounds of
the diaphragm occasion similar dyspnoea and are speedily fatal; those
of the liver are known by the disturbance of the hepatic functions,
and wounds of the stomach by the escape of its contents. Wounds of
the intestine are either incurable, or at least are cured only with
the utmost difficulty. Longitudinal wounds of the spine which do not
penetrate the cord may be repaired, but transverse wounds involving
the cord, so that the latter escapes from the wound, are rarely, if
ever, cured by surgery. Wounds of the kidneys are also beyond the art
of the surgeon. Wounds of the penis are curable, and if the wound is
transverse and divides the nerve, they are likewise painless.

_Si vene titillares in coxis abscidantur homo moritur ridendo._ A