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

  • Guernsey, Henry N. (Henry Newell), 1817-1885.
Date:
1879
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 / Henry N. Guernsey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    In the Sacro-Vertebral Junction, or articulation of the base of the sacrum with the lower articulating surface of the last lumbar vertebra, is found the wedge-shaped interarticular fibro-cartilage com- mon to the inter-vertebral articulations. This fibro-cartilage is much thicker anteriorly than posteriorly, and assists in the formation of the sacro-vertebral prominence. The oblique processes of the sacrum, in conjunction with similar processes of the vertebra, complete the articulation, • and at these points a synovial membrane is supplied. The movements common to the true spinal articulations may be accomplished, but to a limited extent only. The lumbar curve, which begins with the last dorsal vertebra, terminates at the sacro-iliac junc- tion,—the pelvic curve commencing at the same point, and terminating at the extremity of the coccyx. The sacro-vertebral ligament and the ilio-lumbar ligament are those which more immediately connect the spine with the sacrum and pelvis. The Symphysis Pubis, or articulation of the pubic bones in front, is formed by means of two dense oval-shaped fibro-cartilaginous plates, which cover the articulating surfaces of the pubic bones. The surfaces of these plates lying next to the bones are firmly connected to the bones themselves by nipple-shaped processes which fit within corre- sponding depressions on the osseous surface before described; while their opposing surfaces are connected by an intermediate fibrous elastic tissue, especially where the opposing convex surfaces of the pubic bones recede from each other. The interarticular fibro-eartilages vary greatly in thickness in different subjects, and project somewhat beyond the surface of the bones, especially behind. An interspace is left between them at the upper part of the articulation, which is larger in the female than in the male, and especially so during pregnancy and parturition. At this point the surfaces of the plates are lined by epithelium. This articulation is strengthened by several ligaments which traverse it in front and behind, above and below. These are termed, respectively, the anterior and jjosterior pubic ligaments, and the superior pubic and the sub-pubic ligaments. Their names are indicative of their positions and associations. The inferior surface of the sub- pubic ligament forms the upper boundary of the pubic arch. The strength and variety of these ligaments, which combine to strap the pubic bones together in every direction, and in the firmest possible manner, afford sufficient proof of the error of those obstetric writers who have supposed the symphysis pubis was intended to separate for the sake of enlarging the diameter of the pelvis in par- turition. Except in cases of serious deformity, the head is capable