CELSUS

because it has the advantage that a small wound remains open longer to draw out the pus, and a small scar forms afterwards. But if sinews are nearby, fire is inappropriate, lest they be strained or the limb weakened: the work of the scalpel is truly necessary. But other abscesses may be opened even while still somewhat raw: between sinews, one must wait for final maturity, which thins the skin and joins the pus to it, so that 5 it is found closer to the surface. And other cases require a straight wound: in a panus a type of abscess or swelling, because it generally thins the skin severely, the whole of it over the pus must be cut away. However, whenever the scalpel is applied, it must be done so that the wounds are both as small and as few as possible, while still providing relief for the necessity in both size and number. For larger cavities must sometimes be cut into more widely, even with two or three lines, and care must be taken that the lowest part of the cavity has an exit, so that no fluid remains inside, which would cause the adjacent and still healthy tissue to erode and 6 become sinuous. It is also in the nature of things that the skin must sometimes be cut away more widely. For where the entire bodily condition has been vitiated after long illness and the cavity has spread widely, and the skin upon it is already pallid, one may know that it is already dead and will be useless; and therefore it is more convenient to cut it away, especially if this has happened around larger joints, and the patient lying in bed is exhausted by a flowing bowel and the body receives nothing through food. But it should be cut away such that the wound is in the likeness of a myrtle leaf.