FCETUS. 



337 



size, together with a portion of the capsule or 

 hull which surrounds them, were found lodged 

 in the urethra, about three-fourths of an inch 

 from its termination ; they were so situated as 

 completely to obstruct the passage, and a 

 small opening had been formed immediately 

 behind them in the urethra, through which 

 some of the contents of the bladder had been 

 infused into the cellular tissue, and extended 

 to the scrotum, producing inflammation and 

 gangrene, and so causing the child's death. 



The contents of the abdomen appeared 

 perfectly natural, except the colon sinistrum 

 or descending colon, which was found to be 

 entirely destitute of the sigmoid flexure ; the 

 gut passed along the left lumbar and through 

 the iliac regions in nearly a straight line to the 

 neck of the bladder, into which, after making 

 an abrupt but imperfect curve, and being sud- 

 denly contracted in its dimensions, it was in- 

 serted just behind the base of the prostate 

 gland. The aperture which united the gut and 

 bladder into one common receptacle for their 

 respective contents was of sufficient capacity 

 to admit a large-sized goose-quill ; through 

 this aperture the urine found a ready egress 

 into the intestine, where, becoming united with 

 the contents of that receptacle, it was forced 

 back into the bladder, and finally excluded 

 through the urethra. The space between the 

 perineum and the termination of the intestine 

 was occupied by a soft fatty substance, but there 

 was not the slightest vestige of a gut.* 



The subjoined woodcut represents the parts 

 of one half the natural size when merely in- 

 flated. 



Fig. 160. 



a, the penis, b, the bladder, c, the colon. 



We have given the above in detail, not 

 merely on account of the remarkable nature of 

 the anatomical deviation, but as connected 

 with the still more interesting fact, that life 

 was under such circumstances sustained, and 

 healthy defsecation accomplished for nearly a 

 year after birth. 



M. Roux of Brignolles operated success- 

 fully in May, 1833, on a new-born child, in 

 whom the same malformation appears to have 

 existed ; no trace of anus could be discovered 



* American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 

 No. xxx. p. 404. 

 VOL. II. 



in the perineum, and the rectum terminated at 

 the urethra, through which some faecal matter 

 was discharged ; the infant lived, and enjoyed 

 good health.* 



Rickets. Deformities of the bones arising 

 from rickets have been occasionally observed 

 both in the child at birth and in the immature 

 foetus ; but the instances have been few in 

 number ; the writer has never had an opportu- 

 nity of examining a case of the kind, but they 

 have been described by authors of credit. 

 Pinel has given an account of a ricketty foetus 

 of eight months, in which the deformity was 

 chiefly confined to the lower extremities. f 

 ChaussierJ examined another at the Maternite 

 at Paris, in which there was distortion of the 

 back and thorax, with softness and flexibility 

 of the bones. Several other writers of respect- 

 ability have described this aflTection. 



Jaundice. The foetus in utero, as well as 

 the child at birth, has been found exhibiting 

 all the characters of true jaundice. In the case 

 of a lady, related by Duges,|| who was herself 

 liable to frequent attacks of this disease, and 

 had biliary calculi, all her children were born 

 dead, and strongly coloured by jaundice. It 

 is not, however, always fatal to the child affected 

 with it before birth. 



Cirronosis. Under this namelf Professor 

 Lobstein of Strasburg has described** an affec- 

 tion of the foetus in which the serous or trans- 

 parent membranes, as the peritoneum, pleura, 

 pericardium, and arachnoid, were stained of a 

 strong yellow colour, which in some instances 

 was found to pervade also the brain, spinal 

 marrow, and the great sympathetic nerves. 

 The cause of this peculiar colour is altogether 

 a matter of doubt, but it differs from jaundice 

 in not affecting the parenchymatous cellular 

 tissue of internal organs, the subcutaneous 

 cellular tissue, nor the skin, and it is found so 

 early as the third and fourth months, a period 

 at which the bile is not as yet secreted. For a 

 more ample account of this affection see the 

 article CIRRONOSIS. 



Accidental morbid tissues observed in the 

 foetus. Some of these have been already inci- 

 dentally noticed under different heads in the 

 present article, but it appears desirable to 



* See Medical Gazette for June 28th, 1834 ; or 

 the American Medical Journal, No. xxx. p. 531, 

 where there is an account of the mode in which the 

 operation was performed. 



t La Medecine eclairee par les Sciences Phy- 

 siques, torn. i. p. 111. 



$ Diet, des Sci. Med. torn. xvi. p. 67. 



Loder, Index Preparator. &c. Mosquae, 1823, 

 sec. ii. D; Sartorius, Rachit. Congenit. Obs. 4to. 

 Lipsiae, 1826, cum tabulis ; Romberg, De Rachit. 

 Congenit. Berolinae, 1817, cum tabulis ; Otto, 

 Seltene Beobachtung, 1 Sam. tab. i. fig. 1. ; Seem- 

 mering, Abbildung. u. Beschreib. einiger Missge- 

 burten, p. 30. pi. xi ; Bordenave, Mem. de Mathem. 

 et Phys. torn. iv. p. 545 ; Lepelletier, Maladie 

 Scrofuleuse, Paris, 1830; flenckel, Abhandl. Chi- 

 rurg. Oper. Th. ii. p. 14 ; Glisson de Rachitide, 

 p. 178. 



|| Diet, de Med. et de Chir. Prat. t. viii. p. 301. 



^f From xjppof, yellow, and votroe, a disease. 



** In the Repertoire Generale d'Anatomie, &c 

 No. i. p. 141, and plate iv. 



7. 



