Thomsonian practice of midwifery : and treatment of complaints peculiar to women and children / By J.W. Comfort, M.D.
- Comfort, J. W. (John W.)
- Date:
- 1845
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Thomsonian practice of midwifery : and treatment of complaints peculiar to women and children / By J.W. Comfort, M.D. 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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![responding changes in other portions of the system—there must and wild be, evidences of womanhood, before this event can hap- pen; and when these are absent, the girl should never be tor- tured by the class of medicines called emenagogues. There seems to be four conditions of the female system, in which the menses are tardy in their appearance: a, where there is little or no development of the genital organs; b, where this is taking place very slowly; c, where thedevelopement is inter- rupted by a chronic affection of some other part, d, where the development has taken place, yet they do not appear.1'— Dewees. Treatment.—When there is no enlargement of the breasts, nor other signs of approaching womanhood, and the girl is in good health, no medical treatment is requisite, even though the girl be past her fifteenth year. Under these circumstances, healthy exercise in the open air, cheerful society, sponging the body with cold water every morning, will promote the general health, and this is all that should be attempted in such cases. Nature must do the wrork, and unless there are symptoms of constitu- tional derangement, medicine will not be required. Condition 5, or where the developement is taking place slowly. This condition is known by the partial alteration the mammae [breasts] have undergone; by some expansion of the body; and the protrusion of capilli on the pubes. The general health some- times suffers slightly, especially if the girl has passed her fif- teenth year, and she grows rapidly—she is assailed by a train of nervous symptoms, as they are called; such as palpitation of the heart, ringing in the ears, headache; a variable and often depraved appetite, etc. In cases of this kind, besides the means mentioned in the above paragraph for invigorating the system, others may be employed with advantage; for instance, an occa- sional emetic or course of medicine, if the stomach be disordeed; injections to the bowels prepared of composition tea, adding half a teaspoonful of green or brown lobelia, more especially at times when there arc signs of an effort being made by natyre to bring on the menses. The hip-vapour bath, is highly spoken of](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2102909x_0205.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
