A vindication of the forceps described and recommended by Dr. Leake : in which the injudicious and illiberal remarks on that subject, signed Thomas Denman, are examined and refuted / by a late pupil of Dr. Leake's.

Date:
1783
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A vindication of the forceps described and recommended by Dr. Leake : in which the injudicious and illiberal remarks on that subject, signed Thomas Denman, are examined and refuted / by a late pupil of Dr. Leake's. 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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    [ r4 ] - I call upon every Gentleman converfant in practice to confirm the truth of the Afertion. It is not poffible, you fay, to apply Forceps of any kind. Dr. Leake being apprized of the difficulty attending the application of all Forceps in this particular cafe, becaufe of their lateral preffiure, which increafes the longitudinal diameter-of the head, and forces the Occiput ftill more over the Pubes, has therefore, invented a third Blade, which combined with the Forceps afts as a Lever, applied immediately to the refitting point of the Occiput ; and that without the leaf!: danger of hurting the mother ; a circumftance which has often happened by the ufe of the common Lever. Thofe things premifed and duly attended to, I think it will fol- low that you may call on Gentlemen converfant in praflice a long time before they anfwer to the truth of your Aflertion, without your appeal is made to thofe who are as much averfe to improvement as you feem to be yourfelf, and who rather chufe to grope in the dark, than to walk in open day-light. The following Abftraft from Dr. Leake's defeription of his Forceps, will ttill more fully illuftrate and explain the true nature and ufe of the Lever or third Blade, and fliew under what particular circum- ttances its application becomes necefiary and advantageous. “ When the fore-head prefents to the Os Sacrum, and the hind- “ head to the Pubes, the long axis of the head interferes the fihort axis of the Pelvis, and therefore, thefe parts maybe confidered as two Ellipfes or Ovals eroding each other ; a Pofition of the head “ very unfavourable to the Birth of the Child. Whenever this is “ the Cafe, a very capital Inconvenience, even in the long double- “ curved Forceps will occur, for when they are thus applied on the “ Sides of the Head, the more it is there comprefled by the Adlion “ of the Blades, the more will the Hind-head be forced over the “ Pub'es, and the Fore-head agairifl the Sacrum, which will ftill add « to the difficulty, and confequently it cannot be extracted.,in this 46 manner. < i < &