The application of the principles and practice of homoeopathy to obstetrics and the disorders peculiar to women and young children / by Henry N. Guernsey.

  • Guernsey, Henry N. (Henry Newell), 1817-1885.
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The application of the principles and practice of homoeopathy to obstetrics and the disorders peculiar to women and young children / by Henry N. Guernsey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    true physiological centre of the most excited vital activity—the repro- ductive seat of life within life. This distinction of the virgin from the impregnated uterus not only underlies the whole character and constitution and function of the organ, but aifects also the entire physiological, social, moral, and even spiritual, nature and condition of the female herself. Both the organ and the individual in the one case are totally different in structure, function and being from the organ and individual in the other. The virgin or unimpregnated uterus has a structure and functions and dis- orders peculiar to itself. The impregnated uterus also has structure, functions, disorders, difficulties and dangers peculiar to it. We give then, in the first instance, an account of the virgin uterus, describing its shape, size, structure, position, relations, appendages and functions, and afterward pursue a similar course with reference to the gravid or impregnated uterus. Subsequently, and in the appro- priate place, we will detail the various dangers and disturbances to which the uterus—impregnated and unimpregnated—is liable, to- gether with the chief characteristic indications for the principal reme- dies required in their treatment. The virgin uterus is a hollow, pear-shaped conoid organ, with its base or larger part turned upward and forward, and its apex or smaller extremity looking downward and backward. The great im- portance of this organ, and the consequent minuteness of description requisite for its thorough study, have caused it to be divided, nomi- nally and externally at least, into five parts. Of these, the base or upper third is called the fundus ; the middle portion or that part be- tween the fundus and the cervix is called the body ; the lower third is called the cervix or neck; the lower extremity of the cervix is called the apex ; and the orifice or opening of the cervix is called the os ex- ternum, os uteri, or mouth of the womb. It has also, externally, an anterior and a posterior face; the anterior being more flat and looking toward the bladder and symphysis pubis, while the posterior face is more extensively covered by the peritoneum, more convex, and looks toward the rectum and promontory of the sacrum. There are also three borders or margins—one superior border, which bounds the summit of the fundus, and one right and one left lateral border. To the two latter are attached the broad and round ligaments of the corresponding sides. Finally, the cervix and body of the womb have also an internal surface lined with mucous membrane, which is supplied with numerous follicles and glands. The fundus or base of the womb is convex, looking upward and