A System of midwifery : including the diseases of pregnancy and the puerperal state / by William Leishman.
- William Leishman
- Date:
- 1875
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A System of midwifery : including the diseases of pregnancy and the puerperal state / by William Leishman. 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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![and ] arturition takes place beneath rather than through the pelvic canal. In the Rodentia the pubea and ischia are always largely develoj edj flat and diverging posteriorly, while the symphysis is long and usually The Guinea-pig is an exception, as here the union remains ligamentous, and admits of free opening during labor. In the order Ungulata, the Pecora or true ruminants are character- ized chiefly by the great development of the ischial tuberosity, forming a well-maked conical process which is diverted outwards on each s The symphysis i- long, and includes a considerable portion of the ischia, and large epiphyses are observed, forming the articulating Burfj These parts ultimately become fused by anchylosis. In the Perisso- dactyla, the greater ex] ansion of the ilia a- n en in a marked degree in the skeleton of the elephant, indicates, at first sight, an approach to the human type : hut the narrowing of the pelvis at the level of the acetab- ula, and the comparatively small ischial and pubic portions, at once dispel the illusion. The Edentata have the pelvis more or less elongated, and the ischia sly developed. In almost all, the ischia are directly conn* with the vertebral column by one or more osseous bridges, the single one in the sloth passing from the ischial spine, and thus re] resenting the lesser sacro-sciatic ligament. This is carried to the gr stent in the Armadillos, where a long unyielding tube is formed by the coalescence of the ilium and ischium on the one hand, and a consider- able Dumber of sacral and pseudo-sacral vertebras on the other. In most of the Edentates, not only the sacro-iliac articulations, hut also the symphysis pubis, are anchylosed. The Marsupiata and Monotremata are characterized by the great development of the ischia and pubes, and the develoj ment in the tendon of the external oblique muscle of the marsupial bones. The facts here cited will suffice to show that the pelvis, in the various groups into which the mammalia have been divided, is formed so a- to suit the requirements of the individual. The modi1 of locomotion, he it leaping, running, or swimming, is revealed to the anatomist by an examination of the pelvic hones, ami in every case it will he seen that the preponderance of ilium, ischium, or pubis, is due t<> the neces which exists for certain mechanical arrangements, by which alone can the required muscular power he effectively applied to the bony levers. The pelvis is also an efficient support to the organs which are usually contained within it. and especially to those which are connected with the function <>f generation. The obstetrician, however, looks at the pelvis from a different | of view. In it he sees the osseous canal through which the product of conception musl pa-- in the act of parturition. Mr sees in it also the protecting framework which shields the generative viscera from the effects of shock or injury. And. above all. he studies it a- a structure which, if abnormal, may Beriously obstruct the process of parturition. Let u- look, then. for a moment, before quitting the Bubjeet, and from this standpoint at the pelvis of the mammalia. Throughout the whole series, irrefragable evidence is afforded that the pelvis is designed with a direct reference to the propagation of the and we find more-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21016112_0041.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
