Auscultation

[Fr.; Lat. auscultatio, act of listen-Aus'tin, in Illinois, a township of Macon co. ing.] ( Med . ) A mode of appreciating the different sounds which can be heard in the chest, especially in diseases of the heart, lungs, . A. , when done by application of the ear to the chest, is termed immediate A. It receives the name of mediate A. when performed by the aid of the instrument called a stethoscope, one extremity of which is applied to the ear, and the other to the chest of the patient. Auscultator, n. One who practises auscultation. Auscultatory, a . Belonging, or having relation to auscultation. Ausonians. [Lat. Ausones .] ( Hist .) An ancient people of the Italian peninsula, who appear to have been a branch of the great Oscan nation. According to Niebuhr, the Ausones and the Aurunci are identical. Sue a Aurunca, near the Liris, was in the centre of the country which they occupied. Cales ( Livy , viii. 16), Ausona, Minturnæ, and Vescia, were A us on i an cities.