Compendium by an abstract of Gilbert's views on vesical calculus and
its treatment, which cover more than fifteen pages of his work.

Stone and gravel arise from various viscous superfluities in the
kidneys and bladder, which occasion difficulty in micturition. Stone
is produced by the action of heat upon viscous moisture, sublimating
the volatile elements and condensing the denser portions.
Putrefication of stone in the bladder is the result of three causes,
viz., consuming heat, viscous matter and stricture of the meatus.
For consuming heat acting on viscous material retained by reason
of stricture of the meatus, by long action dries up, coagulates and
hardens the moisture. This is particularly manifest in boys who have a
constricted meatus.

Stones are thus generated not only in the kidneys and bladder,
but also even in the stomach and the intestines, whence they are
ejected by vomiting or in the stools. Indeed they may also be found
occasionally in the lungs, the joints and other places. They are
comparatively rare in women, in consequence of the shortness of the
urethra and the size of their meatus.

Sometimes calculi occur in the bladder, sometimes in one kidney and
occasionally in both kidneys. The symptoms produced by their presence
vary in accordance with the situation of the concretion. If the stone
is in the kidney, the foot of the side affected is numb (_stupidus_),
the spine on the affected side is sore and there is difficulty of
micturition and considerable gravelly sediment in the urine. If the
stone is increasing in size, the quantity of sediment also increases,
but if the stone is fully formed and confirmed, the amount of sediment
decreases daily, and the urine becomes milky both in the kidneys and