332 DIAGNOSIS. 



Whether the buttocks have passed the upper strait in a transverse 

 or oblique direction; whether the back is in front or rear, it is not 

 less a rare thing for them to fail to place themselves in an antero- 

 posterior direction in the excavation; being strongly pressed against 

 each other they swell; in boys, the scrotum becomes puffed and in- 

 filtrated; as they curve towards the pubis to gain the vulva, they dis- 

 tend the perineum almost as much as the head does, the form of 

 which they partly simulate; they are next seen to disengage of them- 

 selves, and then every thing goes on as in a footling labor. 



SECTION 3. 



Of the Conduct of the Accoucheur during Labor. 



799. When called to a woman who supposes herself to be in 

 labor, there are two ways in which the accoucheur may behave, 

 accordingly as he may have for a long time enjoyed her confidence, 

 or as he may never have been much acquainted with her before. 



In the former case he should examine at once, in order to ascer- 

 tain whether the labor has really commenced; in the latter, it is often 

 necessary to be not quite so much in a hurry, unless indeed the la- 

 bor seems to be very far advanced. 



He may begin to talk about one of the thousand subjects of futile 

 conversation that every body understands, and which admits of only 

 a gradual approach to the principal object; in this way time is 

 allowed for quieting the agitation commonly occasioned in most 

 women by the presence of a stranger, and particularly an accou- 

 cheur; during this parley, he should endeavor to possess himself of 

 the shades of character, the caprices, tastes, and habits of the person 

 he is called upon to direct, in order to adopt such a plan of conduct 

 as is most likely to inspire her with great confidence in her attendant; 

 the subject of her pregnancy is soon brought up, the symptoms 

 that have accompanied it, the peculiarities that have marked it, and 

 its term; he may ask whether she has had several pregnancies, or 

 whether this is the first; he can ask about the general state of her 

 health, the inconveniences and diseases that she has heretofore suf- 

 fered, after which he may be allowed to think of the labor properly 

 so called. 



§. I. or the Diagnosis. 



800. Nothing is easier, in the opinion of by-standers, than to say 

 whether a woman is in labor or not; but this is not the case with 



