y absolute rest and moderated diet, but a cure is rarely
effected except by operation, which, fortunately, is now resorted
to more promptly and securely than was previously the case.
Without trying the speculative and dangerous method of treatment
by compression, or the application of an india rubber bandage, the
surgeon now without loss of time cuts down upon the artery, and
applies an aseptic ligature close above the dilatation. Experience
has shown that this method possesses great advantages, and that it has
none of the disadvantages which were formerly supposed to attend it.
Saccular dilatations of arteries which are the result of cuts or
other injuries are treated by tying the vessel above and below, and by
dissecting out the aneurysm. Popliteal, carotid and other aneurysms,
which are not of traumatic origin, are sometimes dealt with on this
plan, which is the old "Method of Antyllus" with modern aseptic
conditions. Speaking generally, if an aneurysm can be dealt with
surgically the sooner that the artery is tied the better. Less heroic
measures are too apt to prove painful, dangerous, ineffectual and
disappointing. For anturysm in the chest or abdomen (which cannot be
dealt with by operation) the treatment may be tried of injecting a
pure solution of gelatine into the loose tissues of the armpit, so
that the gelatine may find its way into the blood stream and increase
the chance of curative coagulation in the distant aneurysmal sac.

(E.O.)

ANFRACTUOSITY (from Lat. _anfractuosus_, winding), twisting and
turning, circuitousness; a word usually employed in the plural to
denote winding channels such as occur in the depths of the sea,
mountains, or the fissures (_sulci_) separating the convolutions of
the brain, or, by analogy, in the mind.

ANGARIA (from [Greek: aggaros], the Greek form of a Babylonian word
adopted in Persian for "mounted courier"), a sort of postal system
adopted by the Roman imperial government from the ancient Persians,
among whom, according to Xenophon (_Cyrop._ viii. 6; cf. Herodotus
viii. 98) it was established by Cyrus the Great. Couriers on horseback
were posted at certain stages along the chief roads of the empire, for
the transmission of royal despatches by night and day in all weathers.
In the Roman system the supply of horses and their maintenance was a
compulsory duty from which the emperor alone could grant exemption.
The word, which in the 4th century was used for the heavy