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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    with locomotion, which can only be performed with great difficulty and at the expense of considerable suffering. Difficult labor, too, may have a damaging effect upon the symphyses of the pelvic bones while in this relaxed condition, to the extent that standing or even sitting up in bed is rendered well-nigh impossible. The treatment of these disordered conditions, and of others arising during pregnancy and after parturition in consequence of the softening and relaxation of the pelvic joints, will be indicated in another chapter of this work. The Pelvis as a Whole. Having thus studied the separate bones which compose the pelvis, and examined the manner in which they are united and strengthened, and observed the nature of their articulations, we come to the con- sideration of the pelvis as a whole. In general, the pelvis may be divided into an external and an inter- nal surface, each of which needs to be studied by itself. The External Surface of the pelvis presents four regions. The anterior region extends from the symphysis pubis, on the median line, to the edge of the acetabulum on either side, and is principally cov- ered by the obturator externus and adductor muscles laterally, and in front by cellular tissue and the integument of the pubes. The pos- terior region is marked principally by the ridge formed by the spinous processes of the sacrum, the posterior sacral foramina, the inferior opening of the vertebral canal, the union of the sacrum with the coc- cyx, and the posterior surface of the coccyx itself. Each lateral region is formed superiorly by the external iliac fossa, mediately by the acetabulum, and inferiorly by the external surface of the tuberosity of the ischium. In this situation, likewise, is found the great sacro-sciatic notch. In the whole extent of its lateral surfaces the bones of the pelvis are separated from the integument by thick muscles. On its Internal Surface the pelvis is divided into the upper and larger or false pelvis, and the lower and smaller or true pelvis. The line of division extends on a level with the superior border of the symphysis pubis throughout the extent of the linea ilio-pectinea to the promontory of the sacrum. Thus, the superior pelvis is under- stood to include all that part above, and the inferior pelvis all that part below, the ilio-pectineal line. The inferior pelvis is that which is principally concerned in parturition, and which the accoucheur should therefore fully understand in all its parts and relations. Both the superior and inferior pelvic divisions are again divisible into four