84 



women he attends, even though he were only present, and may not 

 have touched the body. The poison, he thinks, enters the Bystem 

 both by the vascular system and the In: , 3 contact on the 

 wounded surface of the uterus and by n 3piration. This Latter fact 

 is well authenticated by cases of the di occurring in women 



re parturition, and by its prevailing epidemically. 



It- firs! influence sei 1 upon the nerves, though I 



principal effects are upon the blood. The fluids are to the atn 



degree acrid, poisoning wherever they touch, even without the abra- 



Bion of the akin. The Bimple act of threading a needle used in 



■ up a body, caused inflammation of a finger and death. 



This excessive virulence and contagiousness docs not charac- 

 terize all forms of the disease, but only the "erysipelatous." A- to 

 the period of its contagiousness, he thinks it bo Prom the commence- 

 ment of the disease, increasing as it goes on. [ts la1 riod, if 

 it has any, is very Bhort. How long, it is asked, after attending a 

 case of this kind may a physician Bafely deliver a woman? A month, 

 it h answered, should be spenl in carefully endeavouring t" gel rid 

 of the noxious influence h is not carried to any great 1 

 the air. 



With regard to the nature of puerperal fever, the author c 

 siders it a general diseased condition in which the peritoneum and 

 every structure of the uterus may participate, and as these are 

 affected differently in different cases, hence the variety in the symp- 

 toms ami seats assigned t<> it by different writers. 



Erysipelas is also a diseased condition of the whole Bystem, 

 and may manifest it-; action externally en the shin or internally on 

 any membranous structure ; the shin and cellular structure are the 

 in i rrequenl seats of the affection. The serous membranes being 

 a modification of the latter, and the peritoneum being predisp< i 

 by gestation and parturition, explains the frequenl affection of th 

 in the abdomen. Th.' same conditions of atmosphere give rise to 

 puerperal fever and erysipelas, from their almosl constant co- 

 existence, the common origin is evident, though their cause is 

 unknown. Tfo same morbid poison gives rise to these two disea 

 in other words, puerperal fever is often only erysipelas attacking a 

 puerperal woman: presenting the same constitutional Bympto 

 march and morbid appearances, with a tendency to the uterine 



mis. The practitioner Bhould not attend or dr. 1 of ery- 



sipelas when attending women in labour, much less make autopsies. 

 "In conclusion," says the author, "we conceive it to have been 



