A letter to William Smellie, M.D., containing critical and practical remarks upon his Treatise on the theory and practice of midwifery / By John Burton, M.D. Wherein the various gross mistakes and dangerous methods of practice mentioned and recommended by that writer, are fully demonstrated. And generally corrected.

  • Burton, John, 1710-1771.
Date:
MDCCLIII. [1753]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to William Smellie, M.D., containing critical and practical remarks upon his Treatise on the theory and practice of midwifery / By John Burton, M.D. Wherein the various gross mistakes and dangerous methods of practice mentioned and recommended by that writer, are fully demonstrated. And generally corrected. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [ 217. ] I fliew’d in my Account of the Compofition of the Uterus, tliat there is no fuch Membrane in the inner Surface of the Womb, that coulci, in any Condition, occaf/on a Flooding, as every Perfon converfant in Anatomy can tell. And any Man, even Practitioners of the loweft Clafs^ can tell you, that Reftringents ap¬ plied to the Back and Belly^ cannot infiaence the Uterus v becaufe their EfFedls rarely'^go deeper than the Cutis: How then can fuch an Application to the Places men¬ tioned affedl a Part thro’ fo many Mufcles afid Bones that are no way contiguous to, nor has any Commu¬ nication with the Womb, but in common v;ith the reft of the Body ? And cold external Applications to al- moft any Part will often ftop Perfpiratipn and caufe a total Suppreffion of the LiOchia, whereby the Life of the Patient miift be in imminent Danger. And you acknowledge f^), ‘ That the Symptoms are more ^ dangerous when the Difcharge is too fmall or hath ‘ ceafed altogether, than when it is too great.’ There¬ fore no Method fnould be taken that could exchange a lefs Evil for a greater. You then proceed (r), ‘ Some prefer!be Ven^fedtion * in the Arm, to the Amount of five or fix Ounces, ‘ with a View of making a Revulfion: If the Pulfe ^ is ftrongy this may be proper ; otherwife, it wall do ‘ more Harm than Good : Others order Ligatures, for ^ compreffing the returning Veins at the Hams, Arms ‘ and Neck, to retain as much Blood as pofiible in the ‘ Extremities and Head. Befides thefe Applications, ^ the Vagina may be filled with Tow or Linnen Rags, ‘ dipped in the above-mentioned Liquids, in which a ‘ little Allum or Sacchar-Saturni hath been dilTolved : ‘ Nay, fome Pradlitioners inj.eft Proof-Spirits warmed, ‘ or foaking them up in a Rag or Spunge, introduce ‘ and fqueeze them in the Uterus, in order to conftringe ^ the Vefiels.* [b] P.413. [c) 404,