492 GENCHO FUJIMURA 



ing diseases : 1 case of beriberi, 5 cases of nephritis, 2 cases of a 

 valvular disease of the heart, 1 case of albuminuric retinitis, 



3 cases of eclampsia, 2 cases of placenta praevia. 



And the remaining 4 cases had to receive a Porro's operation 

 because of the following diseases: 1 case of mislaid transverse 

 position and 3 cases of the narrow pelvis. 



And as to the time of pregnancy in these 43 cases, it should 

 be noted that 4 cases were less than 1 month, 2 cases 1 month, 



4 cases 2 months, 7 cases 3 months, 6 cases 4 months, 3 cases 



5 months, 4 cases 6 months, 3 cases 7 months, 3 cases 8 months, 

 4 cases 9 months, and 3 cases 10 months. And difficult as it 

 was to accurately determine the exact time of pregnancy in each 

 case, the method I adopted in determining those less than one 

 month was to take into account the size of the egg and the de- 

 gree of development of the embryo and villi, and in those one 

 month and upward, to consider the time of menstruation, the 

 size of the uterus, the length and weight of the embryo, the 

 length of the navel string, and the weight of the placenta, thus 

 arriving at the approximate time of pregnancy. 



As regards the obtaining of the materials from the fetal pla- 

 centa, it should be noted that in the early stage of pregnancy 

 a few pieces of ordinary villi from the surface of the ovum 

 were taken, while in a little more advanced a few small cuts of 

 the chorion frondosum, and in a well-formed stage of the pla- 

 centa a few small bits of the latter have been cut out. Now, 

 as to the maternal part of the placenta, a part was taken 

 from placenta already delivered and from that not grown 

 up yet, in the former case, from the surface opposite the uterus 

 of the placenta, and in the latter, the mucous membrane of the 

 uterus concerned being scratched off quickly, as during an opera- 

 tion it is quite easy for the operator to determine the insertion 

 of the placenta. The tissues obtained in this way have always 

 shown microscopically, besides the proper decidual tissue, the 

 existence in them of parts of villi, syncytium cells, and the de- 

 posit of fibrinoid material ('kanalisiertes Fibrin' of Langhans), 

 all of which were proof that they were the materials I desired. 

 In this connection it must be added that the decidual materials 



