PLEURA

(Lat.) The membrane which covers the inner surface of the thorax and its viscera. It forms two distinct portions, or bags, which, being applied laterally to each other, form the partition called the mediastinum. PLEURITIS, Pleurisy. Inflammation of the pleura. This disease begins with fever, cough, pain in the side, a peculiar hard and strong pulse: the symptoms often run on with great rapidity, attended by very painful respiration and other alarming symptoms. {See Pneumonia.) The treatment must be prompt and decided: it consists in bleeding, blisters, and purging; and in the after treatment, great care must be taken against an insidious and local form of the disease, which often extends to the lungs. PLEURONECTIDiE. (Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) The name of a family of Jugular fishes which swim on their side, and of which the genus Pleuronectes, or sole, is the typej they are commonly called flat-fishes. [s. 952]