124 OF TRUE PREGNANCY. 



I find that the arm is freer, that it may be more easily inclined for- 

 wards or backwards, raised or depressed; that it accommodates it- 

 self better to the necessarily varying stature of women, to the dif- 

 ferent degrees of pregnancy, and height of the womb. After all, it 

 is rather a matter of choice than of necessity. 



324. The index finger arranged as before said, with its radial edge 

 turned towards the arch of the pubis, is first directed on to the peri- 

 neum, or posterior part of the vulva; the point of the finger is then 

 drawn along forwards so as to pass in between the labia, and pene- 

 trate into the vagina in the axis of the perineal strait, that is to say, 

 from below upwards, and from before backwards, as if it were in- 

 tended to reach the sacro-vertebral angle. Previously to searching 

 for the neck, it is proper to explore the state of the rectum, of the 

 bas-fond of the bladder, of the longitudinal columns of the vagina, 

 and the conformation of the straits and excavation of the pelvis: 

 after this first stage, the os tincae is to be examined; the thickness 

 and length of its lips whether relative or absolute should be ascer- 

 tained, as well as their bumps or tubercles, their depressions or slits, 

 their regularity or unevenness, and the form and direction of the 

 orifice; we should next endeavor to determine the length of the neck 

 as well as the size of the womb, which must be raised up so as to 

 learn its weight, while its dimensions also may be ascertained, if, 

 while the finger touches it in the vagina, we can also succeed in 

 feeling and pressing upon its fundus through the abdominal parietes 

 with the other hand. 



325. With these precautions, it is often possible, after the end of 

 the third month, in a lean woman whose abdomen is pretty flaccid, 

 to take hold of the womb by its neck and fundus at the same time; 

 to make it incline backwards, or to either side; to judge of its mo- 

 bility, form and size; to measure very exactly its length and weight; 

 to become certain whether or not it is in a natural state, and whether 

 or not the substance it contains is fluid. 



326. The depression of the cervix, its gentle inclination forwards 

 or backwards, its density, its length and volume, whether a little 

 more or less considerable, exhibit varieties too multiplied, and may 

 depend upon causes too diverse for us to place much reliance upon 

 them. Besides, to judge of them, we should have touched the same 

 woman once or oftener, before she was suspected of being pregnant, 

 and every one knows that this is a condition rarely met with. Al- 

 phonse Le Roy, in asserting with the decided tone that characterised 

 liim, that augmented heat of the cervix was suflScient ground for 

 him to afiirm that pregnancy had taken place, has only given an addi- 

 tional proof of his arrogance and temerity. If conception does in- 



