592 MANAGEMENT OF LYING-IN WOMEN. 



of the cervix, body, and fundus of the womb; of rupture of the 

 psoas muscles, of the rectus muscles and those of the sternum, ob- 

 served at the Paris Maternite by Mesdames Boivin, Lachapelle, and 

 by M. Comte. Upon this subject the excellent memoirs by Madame 

 Lachapelle may be consulted, and in this book the article on extra- 

 uterine pregnancy. I have not treated of descents of the ante-ver- 

 sion and retro version as diseases, because they are observed solely 

 in women who are pregnant; lastly, in treating of hemorrhage, I 

 said nothing relative to transfusion of the blood, practised anew in 

 these latter times by Messrs. Blundell, Doubleday, Waller, Brigham, 

 Boyle, Brown, &c., because it is not yet proved that an operation so 

 dangerous ought really to be adopted by wise and circumspect prac- 

 titioners. 



1254. Infiltration of the external genitals may go to the extent 

 of closing the passage of the vulva, and, consequently, of prevent- 

 ing the discharge of the lochia. If the swelling be purely lympha- 

 tic, and not painful, it will disappear upon making a few pretty deep 

 punctures upon the internal surface of the pudendum. Where there 

 is sensibility and any signs of inflammation, recourse should be had 

 to baths, embrocations, emollient cataplasms, and even to leeches, if 

 the case require it. 



1255. The Thrombus of the labia pudendi, which was noticed by 

 Levret, forgotten by most of the modern writers, pretty well describ- 

 ed by Dr. Dewees, and of which I have seen seven or eight cases, 

 may appear at the moment the head is engaging in or clearing the 

 inferior strait, and even in the first two days after the birth of the 

 child, as in the case lately published by M. Wintringer. The tu- 

 mor sometimes involves both of the labia; more frequently only 

 one is affected. Although in some cases it is from the size of a nut 

 to that of a hen's egg, it is also found to assume in other cases 

 much greater dimensions; it rarely disappears by resolution, and 

 some women suffer from it horribly. Leeches and poultices are 

 generally insufficient for its cure, but 1 have always found it to be 

 promptly dissipated, and without any bad consequence, after a large 

 and deep incision. 



THE END. 



