Induced abortion, on account of extreme narrowness of the pelvis : prize essay of the medical faculty at Tübingen / abridged and published by Ferd. Rattenmann.

  • Rattenmann, Ferd.
Date:
1858
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Induced abortion, on account of extreme narrowness of the pelvis : prize essay of the medical faculty at Tübingen / abridged and published by Ferd. Rattenmann. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    The assertion that the softening of the pelvis may be so much increased as to facilitate the act of parturition, can only apply to anomalous cases. But these instances of our experience will not justify us, in cases where we know before hand that the passage of even an immature child will be impossible, to wait and see if nature will succeed in performing the above masterly operation. By this delay we should, undoubtedly, loose the most precious moments, and if nature should leave us in the lurch, as might be expected from her former proceedings, the sacrifice of mother and child would be most probable and most inexcusable. If all the accoucheurs, or even the majority of them, had been so timid as to persevere in trusting to the softening of the pelvis, or so forbearing, if we want to ascribe this trustfulness in nature, to the moral sentiments of its adherents, two other obstetric operations, the Ccesarian section and craniotomy, would not only never have flourished, but would never have seen the light of day. Fortunately, enterprising minds attempted to present, energeti- cally and with certainty, the consequences of these unnatural dimensions of the pelvis. Yet, not until the thought accidentally struck Nufer, a Swiss, (1500,) to try the Caesarian section upon his own wife, therefore upon a living subject, and that this daring undertaking was attended with success, did this extraordinary in- vention of one who might be called a scientific botch, make its way into the world. But, as is too often the case with new inven- tions, this one also led to great abuses. We have only to look at Kilian's Note, (I vol., p. 790,) where Scipio Mercurius relates, that it was said, that at the time of Eousset, the Caesarian section was as common an operation, in Italy, as bleeding; nay, that there was a time, when the Caesarian section was considered the master- piece of the profession, and that a surgeon could not expect to succeed until he had performed that operation; certainly a sad picture of its abuse. Our century, in its progress, may boast of having banished th inconsiderate and too frequent use of the Caesarian section. At present, medical men know and consider too well the dangers of this operation, which in certain cases, if we judge without preju- dice, we cannot but applaud. For there are cases of extreme