THE Fl ' \ES OF MAN. U7 1 



of WIIAKTON, e.\t ]>! at the attachment at the navel, where for a 

 shoi a it may bo peeled off as a >p-eial thin membrane. 



Condition of (/<> /'.</<// .Wo///-^ //* -lurimj and after Mirth. 



As a conclusion to the account of the foetal membranes some further 

 remarks may be in place regarding their it hirth. 



At the end of pregnancy, with tho ln'^innin^ of labor pains, the 

 fu-tal membranes, whiob form a tluid-tilled >;ic .surrounding the em- 

 bryo, arc ruptured as soon as the contractions of the inu-culatnre of 

 the uterus have reached a certain .1. gre- ..f int -IIMI v. Tin* rupture 

 ordinarily aiises at tin' place where the wall of the sac i- pressed out 

 through the mouth of the uterus (rupture of the amnion). In con- 

 sequence the amniotic water now flows away. 



With the continuation and increase of the pains, tin- child is next 

 forced out of the uterus through the rupture in the foetal membranes 

 it is born, whereas the placenta and embryonic membranes usually 

 still remain behind for a short time in the cavity of the ut 

 Immediately after birth the union between child and foetal mem- 

 !>rane> has to be artificially interrupted, by the tyin# and cutting oft' 

 of the umbilical cord at a little distain from the na\el. 



Finally, tho foetal membranes with the placenta are detached from 

 the inner surface of the uterus, and with renewed pains are discharged 

 to the outside as the after-birth. 



The separation takes place in the spongy layer of the decidua vera, 

 approximately in the region which i> d> situated ;* the line of sepa- 

 ration in the diagram given by LEOPOLD (Plate II.). The after-birth 

 i> composed of both fcetal and maternal membranes, which are <[nite 

 (irmly grown together: (1) the amnion, (2) the chorion, (3) the 

 decidua reilexu, (4) the decidua vera, (5) the placenta (placenta utei 

 and placenta foetalis). Notwithstanding the ^nwin^ to^-tli.- 

 partial separation of the individual membranes from each other is 

 still possible. 



After birth the inner surface of the uteru> is one great surface- 

 wound, since by the detachment of the placenta and the decidiue 

 numerous blood-vessels are ruptured. Also during the tir>t days of 

 childbed fragments of the spongy layer of the decidua vera and 

 serotina, which remained behind at hirth, continue to be detached 

 from it. Only the deepest layer of the muc<a. that immediately in 

 contact with the musculature of the uteru^. is n-tained. This still 

 contains remnants of the cylindrical epithelium of the uterine glands, 

 as has been already stated. In the course of several weeks it is 



