An essay upon the spontaneous evolution of the foetus / by John Kelly.

  • Kelly, John
Date:
1816
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay upon the spontaneous evolution of the foetus / by John Kelly. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    tion of this process that the pains be strong, and rapid in tlieir return. Deformity of the pelvis is another source, to which we may, occasionally, trace the disappoint- ment of our hopes.. By very strong pains, the shoulder of a child may be driven downwards, through a pelvis so deformed, that it would re- quire a force, at least equal to the pains, to send it back again; and there being no such power (independent of manual aid) Nature, under these circumstances, would be effectually foiled in her operations. Let us apply this reasoning to a supposed case, wherein deformity is occasioned by the too great projection of the promontory of the sacrum into the cavity of the pelvis, and w« must see, at once, that there could be no evolu- tion spontaneously. Larged by the pains, the shoulder of the child might make its way to the inferior aperture of the pelvis; but having ar- rived there, it could not get back again; the superincumbent sacrum would be an obstacle, which nothing less, than the application of exter- nal force, could surmount. We may therefore say, that whenever a natu-
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