Compendious system of midwifery : chiefly designed to facilitate the inquiries.

  • William Potts Dewees
Date:
1824
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Compendious system of midwifery : chiefly designed to facilitate the inquiries. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Lamar Soutter Library, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

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    be such^ that their distension may proceed so far as to open their extremities, terminating in the cavity of the uterus, so as to pour out blood there ; or it may happen, that a certain degree of distension may be sufficient to irritate and increase the action of the vessels, and thereby produce an hsemorrhagic effort, which may force the extremities of the vessels, with the same effect of pouring out blood. 117. In either way, he accounts for the first appearance of a flow of blood from the uterus of women. In order to this, he does not suppose any more of a general plethora in the sys- tem, than what is constantly necessary for the successive evolu- tion of the several parts of it; and proceeds upon the supposi- tion, that the evolution of each particular part must necessarily depend upon plethora, or increased congestion in its proper vessels. Thus he supposes it to happen with respect to the uterus ; but as its plethoric state produces an evacuation of blood from its vessels—this evacuation must empty these ves- sels more especially, and put thea-. again into a relaxed state with respect to the system. This empty and relaxed state of the vessels of the uterus, will give rise to a new congestion, till they are brought again to that degree of distension, that may either force their extremities, or produce a new haemorrhagic effort that may have the same effect. Thus, an evacuation of blood from the uterus, being once begun by the causes just men- tioned, it must, by the operation of the same causes, return af- ter a certain period,- and must continue to do so till particular circumstances occasion a considerable change in the constitu- tion of the uterus. What determines the period to nearly a month, he cannot explain ; but supposes it to depend upon a certain balance between the vessels of the uterus and those of other parts of the body. This must determine the first periods ; and when it does so, it can be understood, that a cor>siderabIe increase or diminution of the quantity of blood in the whole system will have but little effect in increasing or diminishing the quantity distributed to the uterus. And when this e\ acua- tion has been repeated for some time at regular periods, it may [8]