Introduction to the study and practice of midwifery / by William Campbell and by Alexander D. Campbell.

Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introduction to the study and practice of midwifery / by William Campbell and by Alexander D. Campbell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    surface of the body, and even the roots of the nails. Fiftlily^ Females not unfrequently menstruate during lactation, which ought then to be discontinued, as the milk is deteriorated, and, according to the experience of the author, may lay the foundation for rachitis or some variety of struma in after life. In the southern parts of Britain and on the continent of Europe, many females are regular while nursing. Sixthly, Although at one time it was believed that pregnant women could not menstruate, yet the author presumes that this be- lief cannot now be entertained except by persons of limited experience. From many observations in his own practice, the author considers this to be as well established as any fact in medicine. It is of the utmost importance to bear this in mind in cases of medico-legal investigation regarding the actual residence of the foetus in utero in a first gestation, where suspicions might have been entertained of a woman having been pregnant antecedently to marriage. When the catamenia appear during gestation, it is reasonable to infer, that as the os uteri is sealed up, they are afforded by the vagina; which inference is supported by the circumstance of the menses having recurred by the usual channel, on the res- toration of health, in females who had been deprived of nearly the whole of the uterus by operation.* SeventJily, Although the menses generally cease during formidable chronic diseases, yet in occasional instances, they recur regularly to an ad- vanced stage in phthisis. The appearance of this function may be accelerated by the influence of warm climate, generous nourishment, free inter- course with the other sex, town life, early introduction into society, personal attractions, and salutary exercise. Men- struation may be retarded by the influence of cold, a limited allowance of food, unwholesome nourishment, latent predispo- sitions to constitutional diseases, as phthisis and the various modifications of struma; also by an undue degree of exercise, a sedentary occupation, and breathing an impure atmosphere. In temperate climates like that of Britain, the first men- strual eruption appears more frequently in the 14th or 15th year than at any other age; near the equator, from the 8th to the 12th; and in high latitudes, from the 18th to the 22nd year. Professor Osiander of Goettingen, in a record of 137 persons, states that 9 of this number menstruated at the 12th year, 8 at the 13th, 21 at the 14th, 32 at the ] 5th, 24 at the 16th, 11 at the 17th, 18 at the 18th, from 10 to 20 at the 20th, 1 at 21, and 1 at 24. In a record of 509 cases * Dublin Hosp. Rep. vol. iii.
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