Lectures on the development of the gravid uterus / by William O. Priestley.
- Priestley, William Overend, 1829-1900.
- Date:
- 1860
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Lectures on the development of the gravid uterus / by William O. Priestley. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![and by this process are resolved into sinuU fragments, which mingle with the discharges. The large admixture of blood-globules give.s the saneous appearance to the lochiae in the early days of con- valescence ; but later, when the blood-globules are less in number, an almost purulent appearance is produced by the cellular and fatty debris, resulting from the disintegration of the residuaiy decidua, and these constitute the chief part of the discharge. The mucous membrane of the cervix uteri contributing nothing to the formation of the decidua, is found almost unchanged at the end of gestation. It remains to inquire by what process is the mucous membrane reproduced and the cavity of the womb restored to the condition of the unimpregnated organ ? In 1848 M. Robin published some researches, in the Archives Gen. de Mddecine on the mucous membrane of the uterus, which have thro^vn much light on the subject. M. Robin, in the first ])lace, draws attention to a thesis written by M. Collin, the object of which was to point out that the muscular substance is not denuded after sejiaration of the mem- branes, and that the layer described by some authorities as pseudo- membranous or inflammatory in origin, found lining the interior of tlie uterus after delivery, is really a nonnal product, and consists of the deeper lamina of the original mucous membrane. Admitting the accuracy of this description, M. Robui proceeds to shew that M. Collin has not miderstood the physiological significance of the layer thus described as lining the uterus after parturition. According to M. Robin, indeed, this lamina is not a portion of the original mucous membrane, which took part in the formation of the decidua—this is thrown off at the time of labour—but it consists of an entirely new-fonned mucous membrane, the first traces of which may be observed about the fourth month of pregnancy, and it continues to increase little by little to the end of gestation, when it takes the 2>lace and assumes the function of the pre-existing layer. Kilian has confirmed M. Robin's statement by obseiwing the same pecu- liarity of development in the pregnant uteri of dogs and rabbits; and personal researches in the human subject have convinced me of the accuracy of M. Robin’s investigations concerning the forma- tion of a new mucous membrane in the latter half of gestation, although I cannot concede that the decidua is entirely removed at the time of labour. In the uterus of a woman who died a few hours after abortion, at the end of the fifth month, T found under the remains of the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22334452_0104.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
