Dropsy
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Dropsy. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a class of diseases always of serious import, though not often, perhaps, directly fatal. Dropsy is rather a symptom than a disease; it consists of the effusion of watery fluid from the blood into the skin and subjacent textures, or into the cavities of the body. vised for the restoration of the appar- When the effusion is chiefly in the super-ently drowned. That of Dr. Sylvester, ficial parts, the dropsy is called anasarca (ana, upon, sarx, the flesh); when it is in the abdomen, it is termed ascites; when in the space around the lungs, hydrothorax. Dropsy most commonly depends on disease of the heart or kidneys; in cases of ascites, the liver and spleen are often at fault. The treatment of dropsy is chiefly by diuretics and other evacuant remedies, which remove the fluid from the textures by unloading the blood of its excess of serum. Mechanical means are also frequently used to relieve the patient of the fluid in the case of the cavities of the body, tapping; in the cellular tissue either free incisions, or small tubes inserted through the skin. DROP-WORT (from the small tubers on the fibrous roots), Spiræ filipendula, natural order Rosaceæ , a British plant of the same genus as queen-of-the-meadow, found in dry pastures. The hemlock drop-wort, or water drop-wort, is Enanthe fistulōsa. DROSERACEÆ, sundews, an order of hypogynous exogens, alliance Berberales. It consists of delicate herbaceous plants, often covered with glands. Found all over the world.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
in medical science, an accumulation of the serum or colorless portion of the blood under the skin, generally in various local parts of the body. Local dropsy is known as dropsy of the chest, of the brain, of the eyelids, etc. It is thought to be due to insufficient heart action in the collection of the blood, or to obstructions in the veins which retard the return of the blood to the heart. The accumulation of watery liquid is frequently so great that a physician is able to give temporary relief by tapping the affected locality and drawing the water off. It is a disease that has as yet shown little inclination to yield to medical treatment. See Medicine ; Disease