Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
OBSERVATIONS
ON
ABORTION.
CONTAINING
An Account of the Manner in which it is accomplished, the Causes which produced it, and the Method of preventing or treating it.
OBSERVATIONS
ON
ABORTION.
By abortion is generally understoodthe expulsion of the contents of thegravid uterus, at a period of gestation soearly as to render it impossible for thefœtus to live. It is an accident or diseasewhich is very frequent in its occurrence,which is always attended with disagreeablecircumstances, and which, althoughit seldom prove immediately fatal, may yetbe productive of much mischief at a future2time. The consideration, therefore, ofthe manner in which it takes place, ofthe causes which give rise to it, and ofthe most likely means of preventing it,or of obviating those unpleasant symptomswhich accompany it, must form asubject of very great importance to themedical student. But before proceedingto consider these points, it will benecessary to understand the structureand formation of the ovum, which Ishall, therefore, first of all explain.
Of the Formation of the Ovum.
The human uterus, in the unimpregnatedstate, consists of a succulent substance,in which we may perceive fibres3running in every direction. In the intersticesof these we find a serous fluid, whichcan easily be squeezed out. By injectingthe vessels finely with size or mercury,we observe them to be numerously intermixedwith the fibres, but very small.A portion of these vessels follow an irregularcourse toward the inner surfaceor cavity of the uterus, and open thereupon the membrane which lines it. Atthe menstrual period the vessels enlargeor dilate a little, and their orifices