546 ON PARTURITION. 



hot; finding the uterine orifice hard and firmly closed, I 

 forcibly dilated the part by means of an iron instrument suffi- 

 ciently to admit of my introducing a syringe and throwing up 

 an injection ; the effect of which was that grumous and fetid 

 blood, to the amount of several pounds, flowed away, with pre- 

 sent relief of the symptoms. 



The wife of a doctor of divinity was brought to me ; a lady 

 of a very tolerable constitution, but who was barren, and having 

 an extreme desire for progeny, had tried all kinds of prescrip- 

 tions in vain. In her the catamenia appeared at their proper, 

 period ; but at times, especially after horse exercise, a bloody 

 and purulent discharge came from the uterus, and then, in a 

 short time, ceased suddenly. Some considered the case as one 

 of leucorrhoea ; others, led chiefly by the fact that the discharge 

 was not continually present, and in small quantities, but ap- 

 peared by intervals and in abundance, suspected a fistulous 

 ulcer ; whereupon they examined the whole vagina by means 

 of a speculum uteri, and appied various remedies, but in vain ; 

 when I was at length called to her. I opened the uterine 

 orifice, and immediately two spoonfuls of pus came away of a 

 sanious character and tinged with streaks of blood. On seeing 

 this I said that there was a hidden ulcer in the uterine cavity, and 

 by applying suitable remedies I restored her to her former state 

 of health. But during the time when I was engaged in her 

 cure, when the ordinary remedies did not appear to be doing 

 much good, I applied stronger ones, suspecting as I did that the 

 ulcer was of long standing, and perhaps covered by exuberant 

 granulations. I therefore added a little Roman vitriol to the 

 injection employed previously, the effect of which was to make 

 the uterus contract suddenly and become as hard as a stone; at 

 the same time various hysterical symptoms showed themselves, 

 such, I mean, as are generally supposed by physicians to arise 

 from constriction of the uterus, and the rising of " foul vapours" 

 therefrom. The symptoms continued some time, until by the 

 application of soothing and anodyne remedies the uterus re- 

 laxed its orifice ; upon which the acrid injection, together with 

 a putrid sanies, was expelled, and in a short time the patient 

 recovered. 



I have introduced this account from my " medical observa- 

 tions" for the purpose of showing how acutely sensible the 



