A treatise on the diseases of females : disorders of menstruation.
- John Charles Peters
- Date:
- 1854
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on the diseases of females : disorders of menstruation. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
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![of the patient, who does not menstruate simply because she has no blood to spare. Nothing can be more ridiculous than applying Electricity, or any other local irritant or stimulant, to the womb, when chlorosis exists; the first great indication will be to restore the general health ; give Iron to make up for the previous deficiency of that element in the blood, [or give Kali carbonicum, or some other remedy, to reduce the excess of fibrin which prevents the haemorrhage; or give Graphite, Sepia, or Sulphur, to remove the peculiar dyscrasias against which they are so specific; or use Nux vomica, to restore the tone of the digestive system, and remove excessive debility and irritability of the nervous and fibrous systems,] and then, and not before, think of stimulating the womb. It is true that, in a large proportion of cases, the menses will ap- pear as soon as the chlorosis, [hyperinosis, dyscrasia, or gene- ral debility] is cured, and, of course, in such cases, there will be no need of the employment of Electricity ; but still a large number will occur, in which, even after the complete relief of the chlorotic, anaemic [dyscratic, fibrinous, or debilitated] condition, the womb will remain torpid and refuse to act. In such cases, a few shocks of Electricity, transmitted through the pelvis, seldom, if ever, fail in effecting Menstruation. I have repeatedly known the menses, although previously ab- sent for months, to appear almost immediately after the use of Electricity; and in more than one case the discharge actually appeared within a few minutes. About a dozen shocks should be transmitted through the pelvis, one director being placed over the lumbo-sacral region, the other just above the pubes, [or alternately over each ovarian region.] Dr. McDonnell says, that the practitioner often meets with instances where females have suffered for months, or even years, from complete arrest of Menstruation, or from its being secreted scantily, and with difficulty and pain, or where the discharge comes on irregularly, being abundant and without pain at one time, whilst at the next period the patient may suffer exceedingly, scarcely any discharge being present; in another class of cases, severe dysmenorrhcea, or painful Men-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21008413_0114.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
