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Speculum   Listen
noun
Speculum  n.  (pl. L. specula, E. speculum)  
1.
A mirror, or looking-glass; especially, a metal mirror, as in Greek and Roman archaeology.
2.
A reflector of polished metal, especially one used in reflecting telescopes. See Speculum metal, below.
3.
(Surg.) An instrument for dilating certain passages of the body, and throwing light within them, thus facilitating examination or surgical operations.
4.
(Zool.) A bright and lustrous patch of color found on the wings of ducks and some other birds. It is usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and is much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female.
Speculum metal, a hard, brittle alloy used for making the reflectors of telescopes and other instruments, usually consisting of copper and tin in various proportions, one of the best being that in which there are 126.4 parts of copper to 58.9 parts of tin, with sometimes a small proportion of arsenic, antimony, or zinc added to improve the whiteness.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Speculum" Quotes from Famous Books



... becomes very painful. By turning it further, the blood is made to start; and by taking away the key, as at E, the tortured person is left in agony, without the means of helping himself, or being helped by others. This is applied in case of obstinacy, at the discretion of the captain. I, F, is a speculum oris. The dotted lines represent it when shut; the black lines when open. It opens at G, H, by a screw below with a knob at the end of it. This instrument was used by surgeons to wrench open the mouth in case of ...
— An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans • Lydia Maria Child

... excusable for any error in this disease, by reason that it is in some sort palpable; and 'tis thence that I conclude surgery to be much more certain, by reason that it sees and feels what it does, and so goes less upon conjecture; whereas the physicians have no 'speculum matricis', by which to examine our brains, ...
— The Essays of Montaigne, Complete • Michel de Montaigne

... circulation to the nervous system induced by the shutting off of the circulation in large areas of the body might very well have a favorable physical effect in this affection. Paul's description of the use of the speculum is as complete as that in any ...
— Old-Time Makers of Medicine • James J. Walsh

... works can be given even now, although an infinite amount of time and labor has been spent in collecting them. His great work is the Opus ma jus, "the Encyclopaedia and the Organum of the Thirteenth Century." A partial list of some of his other works is the following: Speculum alchemio, 1541 (trans, into English); De mirabili potestate artis et naturo, 1542 (trans, into English, 1659); Libellus de retardants se-nectutis accidentibus, 1590 (trans, as "The Cure of Old. Age," 1683); and Sanioris medicino Magistri d. Rogeri Baconis ...
— A History of Science, Volume 5(of 5) - Aspects Of Recent Science • Henry Smith Williams

... him with a residence at Slough, near Windsor, and the means to erect a gigantic telescope with which he might be enabled to continue his important researches. This instrument consisted of a reflector on the "Front-view" construction, with a speculum 4 feet in diameter and of 40 feet focal length. Upon its completion, Herschel immediately began to observe the region of the new planet with the idea of discovering any satellites which might belong to it, for analogy suggested that it was surrounded ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 303 - October 22, 1881 • Various

... invented the speculum auris. This instrument was employed by him for the first time under the following circumstances: A girl ten years of age had in playing introduced a small glass ball into her left ear, and four surgeons, called in successively and ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 488, May 9, 1885 • Various

... a deal better set to work and build me a vinery to grow some more grapes," he grumbled; but Tom laughed, and the speculum gradually began to assume ...
— The Vast Abyss - The Story of Tom Blount, his Uncles and his Cousin Sam • George Manville Fenn



Words linked to "Speculum" :   medical instrument



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