An experimental inquiry into the effect upon the mother of poisoning the foetus / by W.S. Savory.

  • Savory, W. S. (William Scovell)
Date:
[1858]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An experimental inquiry into the effect upon the mother of poisoning the foetus / by W.S. Savory. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    it is very likely to tear a portion of the placenta from the uterus. All these remarks apply with increased force to the last experiments where the foetuses remain exposed, for, when they are returned in a feeble condition to the abdominal cavity, the warmth of the mother often greatly restores them. In the latter experiments, the more foetuses that can be injected the better, and, in a few minutes after the injection of each, it is as well to detach it, for its circulation has then probably almost ceased, and, by retaining it, the experiment is compli¬ cated and the risk of accidental contact of the foetus with some part of the mother, or separation of the placenta, is increased. But this more delicate and difficult experiment is doubtless most obviously free from objection. One or two points in these experiments appear worthy of notice. The great length of time the foetus survives after the injection of strychnia, is remarkable. I think this may be thus explained. When strychnia kills rapidly, it produces death principally by affecting the muscles of inspiration; thus fixing the chest and so suspending respiration. When strychnia kills quickly, it kills by apnoca. This kind of death the foetus in utero of course escapes, and in it death is probably produced by exhaustion, as in ordinary cases when strychnia kills more slowly. Again, in my experiments, after the mother has died from the effects of strychnia, I have carefully watched for any appearance of tetanus in those foetuses which still remained untouched in the uterus. And although the effect of strych¬ nia is so striking in the foetus when directly injected, I have never observed any of its symptoms in those which I had not poisoned. This fact is most interesting in relation to the present inquiry, and may probably be explained by the short time the mother survives its effects. A similar remark applies to chloroform. Although, in my experiments, the mother was invariably reduced to a state of profound insensibility, yet the foetuses, when exposed, were always active and lively.
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