[Introductory lecture, read before the City of London Medical and Chirurgical Society on Tuesday, the 8th of June, 1830].

  • Firth, Thomas.
Date:
[1830]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Introductory lecture, read before the City of London Medical and Chirurgical Society on Tuesday, the 8th of June, 1830]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    ;i3 , , i i .,J., i nt 111 .timnr«i <liw t>niiJrj? ''IJ ?)ropoi tion ta the trunk: . Abptit the fourth month p[f gestation ^ihe |Size of,the foetal extremities correspond; ^ut in a less advanced period the upper appear lai-ger '{han the inferior extremities, and after this period the inferior extremities are the largest. About the time when the inferior extremities have become larger than the superior extremities, viz. the fifth month, the hair begins to make its appearance on the eye-brows and head. The male foetus may be distinguished from the female By the head being larger in proportion to the body,^I^5s rounded, the occipital protuberance greater, the crown of the head flatter, and the chest is more prominent than the umbilical region. The male trunk is arched between the superior part of the loins, whilst in the female it is hollow; there is also a considerable difference in the ap- pearance of the extremities ; they are generally longer, hot so plump and round ; tbe wrist and hands are usually Ibroader, and the fingers not so small and pointed. There is also an obvious difference in the circumference of the body over the hips, which is usually considerably less in the male than in the female. The lower extremities ][)artake of the same difference of dimensions as the upper; the heel is generally more prominent, and the length of the great toe exceeds that of the other toes. ,, iiil.i The growth of the child, in embryo, as stated by Soemmering, is much more considerable during the first week after conception than at any other period, and it does not make the same progress at all periods of gestation. It is the received opinion, that tbe growth of the foetus is less rapid during the second than the first month; that it is accelerated from tlje commence-