The principles and practice of midwifery : with some of the diseases of women.

  • Milne, Alexander
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles and practice of midwifery : with some of the diseases of women. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    tlie sacrum being composed of 5, tlie coccy.v of 3, and each iimomiuate bone also of 3 pieces. As years advance, consolidation takes place, and by the period of puberty they are generally blended into one. We shall touch briefly on these bones separatelj’', liefoi-e considering them as a_ whole, and as making up the pelvis. 4. Os Sacrum, or Os Basilare.—This is placed at the lower part of the ^■ertebral column, of wliich it ni;iy be said to form a part. It is of a triangular shape, and is wedged in between the innominate bones. Its ajiex is placed downw'ards, and backwards, while the base looks upwards and forwards. It is of very spongy texture, and this with its numerous foramina makes it the lightest bone in the body. It has four surfaces, an external, and internal, and two lateral. The anteiior 01’ internal surface is the one tliat peculiarly concerns the ob.stetrician. This surface is smooth and concave, and constitutes the back wall of the ])elvic cavity. This hollow or concavity is deeper in the female than the male, and -wisely so, as we sliall see. For example, it varies in reference to the segment of a circle, which it forms in different jieople. If it be too straight it may retard labour, Iiy hindering the descent of the head; and, on the other hand, if too much curved, it may also impede, both towards the brim and outlet. The upper part of the sacrum, where it joins, through the medium of cartilage, the last lumbar vertebra, is also a }iart of much interest and importanee. Tins part, sacral j)ro- montory, often projects too far foi'wards towards the pubis, and by dimini.shing tlie size of tins brim retai’ds labour seriously in numerous cases. Little more may be said respecting this bone, the fullest description being obtainable in anatomical treatises. 5. The Coccyx, or Os Coccygis; Huckle or Knuckle Bone, so called from its resemblance to the beak of a cuckoo,—a kind of appurtimance of the sacrum. It is a small triangidar b(jiu-, but important obsbdrically.