The principles of midwifery; including the diseases of women and children / [John Burns].

  • Burns, John, 1774-1850
Date:
1820
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles of midwifery; including the diseases of women and children / [John Burns]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    114/788 (page 88)
    vegetable astringents, are proper. In obstinate cases, mer- cury ought to be tried, with a view of altering the action of •the parts; but it must be done cautiously, as it is hurtful when it excites v/ithout rectifying the action. When there is considerable uterine pain, or much sensi- bility of the neighbouring parts, the introduction, at night, into the vagina, of a few grains of extract of hemlock, is of service. Pain about the groin is relieved by leeches, and the application of a blister kept open by savine ointment. SECTION TWENTY-SIXTH. The uterus may, from irritation, become ulcerated like any other part; purulent matter is discharged, the patient feels pain in coitu, or when the uterus is pressed, and some- times the finger can discover the ulcer. Simple ulceration is very rare, and I apprehend, will always heal, by keeping the parts clean with mild injections. Ulceration from mor- bid poison is more frequent. Of this kind is the phagedena, a most obstinate and dreadful disease of the womb, which begins about its mouth, and goes on, gradually destroying its substance, until almost the whole of it be removed; and sometimes it spreads to the neighbouring parts. This dis- ease is marked by excruciating pain of the burning kind, in the region of the uterus; copious, foetid, purulent, or sanious discharge, alternating with some hemorrhage; small but fre- quent pulse, wasting of the flesh, and occasionally swelling of the inguinal glands: no tumour is felt externally, but the belly is flat. Examination, per vaginam, discovers the destruction which has taken place, and how far it has pro- ceeded. It also ascertains, that the part which remains is not enlarged. On inspecting the body after death, the pelvis is generally found filled with intestines, matted, and adhering to the pelvis, and to one another. In the midst of the mass, there are some- times one or two simple abscesses, containing healthy pus. On tearing out the mass, the uterus is discovered to be ate away all to the fundus, or a small part of the body. The substance is very little thickened, but resembles soft cartilage, wdth here an