Lectures on the principles and practice of midwifery / [James Blundell] ; edited by Charles Severn.

  • James Blundell
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on the principles and practice of midwifery / [James Blundell] ; edited by Charles Severn. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    59/456 (page 51)
    COMPARISON BETWEEN THE MALE AND FEMALE PELVIS. 5] up, and on the other, that the pelvis is of full capacity at its brim ‘ and in its cavity, if the fingers can be lodged between the head and bones without difficulty: that this observation may have value, however, it is absolutely necessary that the head, as ob- served above, should be thoroughly within the pelvic cavity. So then, by passing the fingers between the bones and the head, by ascertaining what is the condition of the head, and more espe- cially the existence or absence of an intumescence of the scalp, by learning what has been the duration of the labour under strong pains after the discharge of the liquor amnii, by making out whether the promontory of the sacrum can be felt with facility or not, and by inquiring of the patient what has been the result of pre- vious labours, I am enabled in most cases at the bed-side to say without difficulty, whether there is such a contraction of pelvis as demands the use of instruments. ‘To me it matters little what is the precise measure below or above. With lines of an inch ora quarter of an inch I have little concern; all I want to know is, whether there is such a contraction above as to require the use of instruments; and by the preceding means, independently of nicer measurements, I am enabled to ascertain it. LECTURE V. COMPARISON OF THE MALE AND FEMALE PELVIS, — PASSAGE OF THE FG:TUS THROUGH THE PELVIS. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE MALE AND FEMALE PELVIS. Auruoves the accoucheur has not to operate upon the male pel- vis, and therefore takes but a small interest in it absolutely consi- dered, yet as there are some striking differences between the pelvis of the corresponding sexes, and asthe comparison and observance of these differences are calculated to render our ideas of the female pelvis more exact and prominent, it may not be amiss that we should enter on them. If I place the female by the side of the male pelvis, comparing them, I remark that in the male pelvis there is a certain roughness, bulkiness, and weight, which strikingly contrast it with the lighter, smoother, and more elegant pelvis of the female. In the male, too, I find the ilia, or wings of the ossa innominata, are more erect, — in the female more expanded. In the male the brim is more rounded, though tending somewhat to an ellipse, the long diameter of which stretches from before backward; in the female, the brim, though sometimes rounded, is generally oval, and the long diameter lies between the sides. In the male, the pelvis is deep:—ain the female, the pelvis is shallow. In the male you have a very small