Cancer

(kan ser.) [L., ac rab.] (Med.) A disease chiefly attacking the glands, consisting of a scirrhous tumor, terminating in an ill-conditioned and deep ulcer, generally attended by excruciating pain. When the cancerous character of a tumor is once ascertained, its extirpation, when practicable, is the only chance of effectual relief. The large blue veins which ramify round a C. of the breast were compared by old authors to the claws of a crab, whence the name of this disease. - (Astron.) The Crab. The fourth sign of the Zodiac, which the sun enters about the 21st of June, when he reaches his greatest N. declination. The first point of C. is 90°distant from the first point of Aries, and is called the Summer Solstice. The parallel circle through this point is called the Tropic of Cancer, [s. 135]