SECT. LVIII.—OF THYMI ON THE PENIS.
Thymi are fleshy excrescences, forming sometimes upon the glans, and sometimes upon the prepuce; and some of them are malignant, and some are not. Those which are of a mild nature it will be proper to pare away with the edge of a scalpel, and sprinkle the part with chalcitis; but when malignant, the part must be burned after they are removed. If there be thymi on both sides of the prepuce, some internal and others external, we must not attempt all at the same time, lest by mistake we should cut off the prepuce, which is thin; but we must first cut off the internal, and, when they are healed, we may next attempt the external. Some of the moderns effect a cure by cutting them off with a pair of scissors, and by binding them with a horse-hair; as, in like manner, some burn them with the cold cautery.
Commentary. Albucasis copies our author’s description. (Chirurg. ii, 56.) When the tumour is of a malignant nature, he particularly approves of using the actual cautery. These intractable tumours on the genital member are now frequently met with.