PREGNANCY PREHNITE. 



Under Napoleon, the prefects had to make reports 

 of the rich heiresses of their departments, in order 

 to afford an opportunity to the favourites of govern- 

 ment to address them. Legraverend (Des Lacunes 

 de la Legislation Fran^aise) has disclosed a number 

 of abuses, by which the prefects invaded the private 

 property and domestic relations of the citizens. 

 How the administration of penal justice, the elec- 

 tions, &c., were managed by them according to the 

 purposes of the ministers, is notorious. The power 

 of the prefects, however, ceases, at least by law, 

 as soon as a legal contest arises respecting a sub- 

 ject of administration ; for he must refer such cases 

 to the court appointed for the purpose, the council 

 of the prefectures, of which he is the president, but 

 in which he has only a casting vote. Under the 

 cognizance of this court fall all disputes respecting 

 the taxation of particular individuals, respecting 

 contracts for supplies, engagements with the state 

 for building, the indemnification of those who have 

 had to give up any thing to the public, or have 

 been injured by the contractors for public buildings, 

 together with injuries sustained in war, contests 

 respecting any of the public domains, &c. The 

 appeals against its decisions (arretes) lie to the 

 council of state. Against the decision of the minis- 

 ters, also, in contested matters of administration, 

 complaints must be submitted to the council of state; 

 but in matters not disputed, memorials alone against 

 the prefects can be laid before the ministers, and com- 

 plaints against the ministers must be addressed im- 

 mediately to the king. The nature and extent of the 

 power of the prefectures, and the destruction of free- 

 dom and independence in the administration of the 

 townships, all parties in France agree in censuring. 

 But how arbitrary power and partiality may be ban- 

 ished from the administration of the prefects, so as 

 not to deprive thegovernment of its requisite energy, 

 and in what way communities may be reinvested 

 with self-government, are questions respecting which 

 the greatest diversity of opinion prevails. 



PREGNANCY; the state of a female who is 

 with child. Pregnancy begins at the moment of 

 conception, and ceases with that of birth. During 

 pregnancy, the vital activity, especially of the 

 womb, which probably receives, a few days after 

 conception, the fecundated vesicle, increases. The 

 periodical discharge of blood ceases, but the ves- 

 sels of the womb become enlarged, more charged 

 with blood, longer and straighter. Its cellular sub- 

 stance becomes softer, and more spongy, the sides 

 thicker, the cavity wider. It loses the pear shape, 

 which it has when not impregnated, and becomes 

 more globular. It sinks during the two first months 

 of pregnancy, lower into the pelvis, but afterwards 

 rises, and becomes larger, until, in the eighth 

 month, the bottom of it can be felt externally in 

 the region of the stomach. In the ninth month, it 

 sinks again somewhat. In these changes of the 

 womb, the embryo (q. v.) developes itself, until it 

 has reached, in the fortieth week, a sufficient de- 

 gree of maturity to be able to live separate from 

 the mother, when the birth takes place, and preg- 

 nancy is at an end. But the vital activity is in- 

 creased in the state of pregnancy not only in the 

 womb, but in the whole body, with healthy and 

 vigorous women. Pregnant women are bolder, 

 more independent, more enterprising, stronger than 

 before, and retain these qualities when they are 

 mothers. They are more rarely affected by conta- 

 gious diseases ; consumption is checked during 

 pregnancy, but makes the more rapid progress after 

 its completion. Hysteric women feel often uncom- 

 monly well during this period ; the gouty are freed 

 from their attacks ; some become uncommonly fat. 

 On the other hand, this state iSj with many, parti- 



cularly with feeble, sickly, delicate, too young or 

 too old women, often accompanied by a great 

 many complaints, which depend upon the altered 

 state of the systems of the vessels and nerves. The 

 stomach particularly often suiters ; hence nausea, 

 vomiting, a morbid loathing of, or craving for, par- 

 ticular dishes, which were till then indifferent. 

 Pregnant women often suffer, also, by wandering 

 pains, particularly in the teeth, and by coughing. 

 Much inclination exists in the body to inflammation 

 and a heated state of the blood ; the veins of the 

 feet and the posteriors are swelled. The mechani- 

 cal pressure of the womb, thus changed in situation 

 and form, not unfrequently causes irregularities in 

 the discharges of the urine and excrements. All 

 these changes serve as signs of pregnancy. Other 

 signs are the gradual and regular changes observed 

 at the opening of the womb by internal examina- 

 tion ; also the state of the breasts, which become 

 larger during pregnancy, and in which a milky sub- 

 stance collects, but particularly the change of colour 

 round the nipple ; lastly, the motion of the child 

 felt by the mother in the second half of the period 

 of pregnancy, and the perception of different parts 

 of the foetus by external and internal examination. 

 It is very important to determine the fact of preg- 

 nancy at an early stage ; but it is very difficult in 

 some cases, particularly in the first half of the 

 period, because there are a number of diseases of 

 the abdomen which are attended with similar 

 symptoms. Pregnancy itself is subject to a num- 

 ber of deviations from the ordinary course. The 

 rules laid down to prevent injury to the embryo, 

 and to preserve the health of the mother, have re- 

 ference principally to air, nourishment and exercise; 

 to the natural desires and preternatural longings 

 (the latter must be gratified with much caution) ; 

 to the passions, which must be carefully restrained ; 

 to the imagination, because the whole nervous sys- 

 tem may easily become over-excited, to the proper 

 allowance of sleep, and the disposition of the 

 dress, which must not press either the abdomen or 

 the breast. All injuries from over-exertion or 

 mechanical causes are to be carefully avoided, as 

 falls, lifting, blows, &c., because they may easily 

 occasion abortions. During pregnancy, care ought 

 also to be taken that the breasts are fit, after the 

 birth of the child to nourish it. It is a mistaken 

 idea that abortions take place much more frequently 

 among the higher classes : the poorer classes in po- 

 pulous cities are quite as liable to them. In the 

 country, where a purer air keeps the body altoge- 

 ther in a more vigorous state, abortions occur less 

 frequently. The advice of experienced female 

 friends, during the whole period of pregnancy, is, 

 of course of the greatest value ; yet, in almost all 

 countries, certain prejudices exist respecting this 

 important state in a female's life, and the advice of 

 a physician cannot be dispensed with. The internal 

 examinations mentioned above are comparatively 

 rare in Britain and the United States ; but in 

 France, Germany and Italy, if not throughout the 

 European continent, they belong to the regular 

 course of medical attendance in the state of preg- 

 nancy. 



PREHNITE ; a mineral first discovered by colo- 

 nel Prehn, at the cape of Good Hope, to whom it 

 owes its name. It sometimes occurs in oblique 

 rhombic prisms, its primary form, but more gene- 

 rally in irregular eight-sided tables and low six- 

 sided prisms. Prehnite, however, is found, for the 

 most part, in botryoidal concretions, of the size of 

 a pea, and larger, made up of delicate fibres ; its 

 colour is some shade of yellow or green ; it is trans, 

 lucent, shining, and hard enough to scratch glass ; 

 specific gravity 2.8 tu 3; it melts with intumea 



