An attempt to prove, on rational principles, that the term of human pregnancy may be considerably extended beyond nine calendar months : comprising the substance of evidence given in the Gardner peerage cause, before the House of Lords, July 4, 1825 / by John Power.

  • Power, John.
Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An attempt to prove, on rational principles, that the term of human pregnancy may be considerably extended beyond nine calendar months : comprising the substance of evidence given in the Gardner peerage cause, before the House of Lords, July 4, 1825 / by John Power. 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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    individual, under different circumstances, so that a greater stimulus than ordinary shall be required to excite them into action. To carry forward an analogy we are already familiar with, sneezing will, in one person, be excited by a small portion of the mildest snuff, whereas, in others, the largest quantities of the most acrid kind will with difficulty produce this effect. The same principle may operate with re- spect to the mouth of the womb, so as to delay labour; it is difficult, however, to discriminate the present case, from the one treated of in the last section, since practically and theo- retically, tlie effects of both are intimately blended together. When they concur, it it may readily be conceived, that the effect will be more decided, or, in other words, the labour longer delayed. The modifications of these causes, whether taken separately or combined may be com- pared to the action of a gun-lock, where if the works are finely wrought, the slightest im- pression of the finger will discharge the piece; while on the contrary, if coarsely or imperfectly got up, a considerable force may be required to disengage the trigger. The following case is illustrative : In the year 1821,1 visited a poor woman in Westminster, who had gone a month beyond