Volume 1

A system of gynecology / by American authors ; edited by Matthew D. Mann.

Date:
1887-1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A system of gynecology / by American authors ; edited by Matthew D. Mann. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    child carry off the menstrual discharge more readily, because tlie lochial discharge improves the circulation. The views of the Father of Medicine on the treatment of uterine hemorrhage were, however, more sensible. We discover, indeed, in them some of the fundamental principles of the advanced methods of our own day. His knowledge of the relation of sympathy between the uterus and the mammae is apparent in his instruction to apply a large cupping instrument to the breast as a means of staying uterine hemorrhage. His description of leucorrhoea and the frequent attendant systemic condition is graphic, although his therapy of the affection is crude. The prolapsed uterus, he says, hangs down like a scrotum. It should be well washed with asti'ingent lotions and restored to its place, when the woman must be placed on her back with her legs crossed and tied together. That Hippocrates recognized the fact that a molar pregnancy occurring in an unmarried woman impeached her virtue is evident from his statement that moles are caused by a suj)erabundance of menstrual blood, together with a bad condition of the semen. He gives a clear differential diag- nosis between molar and true pregnancy. His description of cancer of the uterus is clear, and his gloomy prognosis in such cases has not been much brightened by the advances made since his day. We recog- nize in the phimus of his day the modern stenosis of the os. He recommends an application containing verdigris for its relief. His remarks on atresia of the vagina and uterus command attention: Sometimes the vagina becomes obstructed after parturition. I have seen a case where the parts Avere torn during delivery, causing excoria- tions, after which the parts became seriously inflamed, so that the lips touched and became united as in wounds. After the subsidence of the inflammation the lips, which had reunited, offered an obstacle to the men- strual discharge, preventing its free exit. It is necessary in such a case to dress the lacerated parts and cause cicatrization, but it is also neces- sary that the cicatrix be firm and complete, while it is very difficult to secure this result. In the instance of which I speak all the results took place which occur when the menses are suppressed by malforma- tion of the uterus, but the principal i)ain was felt in the vagina, which the woman found to be occluded. After suitable treatment the men- strual flow was re-established, the woman recovered her health, and afterward bore children. If the case had been neglected, the wound woj^dd have increased in size, and a cancer would have been the final result. It is evident that the subject of sterility received much of his attention, and his views concerning the causation of the same are intercstiu-. He held the cause to be one or several of the foil owing:: 1. Because the os uteri is turned obliquely from the passage to it. 2. Because the inside of the uterus, being smootli, either uatiu-ally or in consequence of cicatrices and ulcers, does not retain the semen. r