140 OF TRUE PREGNANCY. 



nancy, we can only account for the contraction of the cyst by sup- 

 posing that there has been a development of fleshy fibres in its 

 parietes, at ths cost of the elastic cellular layer which is enclosed 

 in the peritoneum of the pelvis. 



362. Termination. Interstitial pregnancy alone admits of a pos- 

 sibility of extracting the fcetus by the natural passages; the caliber of 

 the tube, and its slight dilatability, do not allow us even to think of it 

 in the other species; in this view, therefore, extra-uterine pregnancy 

 is always dangerous, both for the mother and child: its natural ter- 

 minations are the death of the foetus, and rupture of the cyst. 



363. Death of the fcetus. It is rare for the fostus to continue 

 alive beyond the second or third month; after its death, which hap- 

 pens for want of nutrition, or in consequence of inflammation of its 

 envelops, it sometimes happens that the liquor amnii as well as all 

 the other fluid portions of the ovum are absorbed, the child hardens, 

 petrifies, or is transformed into gras de cadavre, the cyst contracts, 

 thickens, and becomes fibrous, fibro-cartilaginous, or even osseous, 

 and the whole resolves itself into a solid tumor, which may remain 

 in the abdomen for an indefinite period, without compromilting the 

 life of the woman. In other cases the sac is transformed into a real 

 suppurating cavity, the fostus is decomposed, dissolved, or putrefies, 

 and then the cyst soon contracts adhesions with the surrounding parts, 

 so as speedily to open into the bladder, the caecum, the colon, the 

 small intestines, the rectum, or directly outwards through the pari- 

 etes of the belly or perineum, if not immediately into the peritoneum. 

 Sometimes the ovum becomoe merely filled With a fluid -which io 

 more or less thick and transparent, of a yellow, brown, gray, or red- 

 dish color, but not purulent; or it is converted into a cyst, in which 

 as much as one hundred and fifty pounds of fluid have been found, 

 and containing the debris of a fcetus: an instance of which is reported 

 by Vassal. 



The first case is the most fortunate of all; with it should be classed 

 most of those pretended pregnancies that have been said to last two, 

 four, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, and even forty years: the second is 

 always accompanied or followed by serious symptoms; inflammation 

 is propagated to the circumjacent parts, gives rise to violent fever, and 

 sooner or later brings on a fatal termination; the patient most com- 

 monly becomes hectic, for she is exhausted by an abundant suppura- 

 tion; sometimes, also, all the parts of the foetus escape one after an- 

 other; the sac is gradually emptied, becomes clean, and contracts; 

 the suppuration ceases by degrees, and the wound at last closes, or 

 at least is reduced to the state of a fistulous ulcer, which is rather 

 more troublesome than dangerous. 



