Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: First lines of the practice of physic (Volume 2). Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![in consequence of a suppression of an evacuation of blood -winch had been for some time before established in another part of the body, particularly that of the menstrual flux in women. 1019.] There are instances of a vomiting of blood hap- pening from the retention of the menses : but such instances are very uncommon ; as retention of the menses rarely happens in consequence of, or even with a plethoric state of the body; and as rarely does it produce that, or the hemorrhagy in question. There are instances of a vomiting of blood happening to pregnant women ; that might therefore also be imputed to the suppression of the menses, which happens to women in that state. There have indeed been more instances of this than of the former case ; but the latter are still very rare : for although the blood which used to flow monthly before impregnation, is, upon this taking place, retained, it is commonly so entirely employed in dilating the uterine vessels, and in the growth of the foetus that it is seldom found to produce a plethoric state of the body, requiring a vicarious outlet. The vomiting of blood, therefore, that is vicarious of the menstrual flux, is that which commonly and almost on- ly happens upon a suppression of that flux, after it had been for some time established. 1020.] When such a suppression happens, it may be sup- posed to operate by inducing a plethoric state of the whole body, and thereby occasioning hemorrhagy from other parts of it ; and hemorrhagies from many different parts of the body have been observed by physicians as occur- ring in consequence of the suppression we speak of. It is however the great variety of such hemorrhagies, that leads me to think, that with the plethoric state of the whole body there must be always some peculiar circumstances in the part from which the blood flows, that determines its afflux to that particular, often singularly odd, part; and there- fore, that such hemorrhagies may from these circumstances occur without any considerable plethora at the same time prevailing in the whole system. 1021.] It is to be observed, that if we are to expect an hemorrhagy in consequence of a suppression of the menses inducing a plethoric state of the system, we should expect especially an hemoptysis, or hemorrhagy from the lungs, as a plethora might be expected to show its effects especi-'](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21112290_0024.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
