946 



TERATOLOGY. 



in some sorts of double monsters, male. 3. 

 In a definite proportion between the species of 

 the animals, and the most frequent monstrosities 

 in them. Cyclopes, for instance, especially with 

 a snout, occur most frequently in swine ; double 

 monsters in man. 4. In the constant form 

 of monsters, even amongst the most heteroge- 

 neous animals. Cyclopia, double monsters, 

 acrania, have in Birds precisely the same cha- 

 racters as in the Mammalia. 5. In the greater 

 predisposition to monstrosity among some animals. 

 This is greater among domestic than among 

 wild animals ; greater among the more perfect, 

 than among the less perfect ; three-fourths of 

 the monstrosities occur among Mammalia, one- 

 fourth among Birds (J. Geoffrey St. Hi- 

 laire). They happen seldom among Reptilia, 

 still less frequently among Fishes, Mollusca, 

 Articulata, and Radiata. 



From these premises the consequence is 

 easily derived, that monstrosities do not take 

 place by chance, and therefore do not by any 

 means deserve the so very general appellation 

 of caprices of nature (lusus natural). The 

 result of this is, that they often present a 

 quantitative antithesis, according to what 

 Geoffrey St. Hilaire denominates loi de ba- 

 lancement. According to this law, the ex- 

 cessive developement of one part of the body 

 is often connected with checked formation of 

 another. To anenccphalia, cyclopia, spina 

 bifida, are often joined fingers and toes in ex- 

 cessive number ; to sireno-melia superfluous 

 vertebrae and ribs ; and frequently there occur 

 in double monsters malformations of the head. 

 Meckel saw, in one single instance, this an- 

 tithesis extend itself over different children 

 of one and the same mother. A girl had 

 on each extremity a superfluous digit, and 

 one hand of her sister wanted four fingers, 

 being the number of digits which her sister 

 had in excess, reckoning the four extremities 

 together. 



I have now arrived to the classification of 

 monstrosities ; but in order to prevent all 

 unnecessary waste of time, I shall avoid 

 entering into a full critical examination of 

 the systems propounded by Licetus, Huber, 

 W'gtel, Malacarne,Buffon,Blumenbach, Bres- 

 chet, Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Gurlt, Otto, and 

 Bischoff. Concerning these I refer to Bis- 

 choff*, from whom Rokitansky has chiefly 

 borrowed what he gives in his manual. Ac- 

 cording to my conviction, no suitable clas- 

 sification of monstrosities can be given, and 

 the efforts employed to this end may be re- 

 garded as failures/ 1 confine myself, therefore, 

 to a simple grouping, taking embryogenesis 

 as my basis, without presuming on any further 

 classification, and I thus avoid a barbarous 

 nomenclature, which, in my opinion, is at- 

 tended with no advantage. Mv object is 

 simply to make the doctrine of malformations 

 useful for physiology and for medical practice, 

 nearly in the same manner as was done, almost 



* Entwickelungs Geschichte mit besondere Be- 

 rUcksichtigung der Missbildungen, in R. Wagner 

 Handworterbuch d. Physiologic, B. i. S. 887 



simultaneously with me, by the excellent F. A. 

 von Ammon.* 



MALFORMATIONS OF THE OVUM. 



1 . Mola botryoides or Jiydatica, Hydromelra 

 aquatica y is a degeneration of the chorion into 

 vesicles of different sizes, filled with a serous 

 liquor, which were erroneously taken for hy- 

 datids. They cover the surface of the en- 

 larged ovum, and are the villi of the chorion, 

 which, as no formation of vessels took place, 

 retained their original vesicular form (Ruysch, 

 Albintis, Sandifort, Cruveilhier, Velpeau). 

 Sometimes a fetus is found in it, which, how- 

 ever, in relation to the ovum may be said 

 to be small. 



The small embryo most probably dies 

 in the early period of pregnancy, and the 

 degenerated ovum continues to grow till 

 a later period, when it is evacuated. In 

 most cases abortion is the consequence of 

 this condition of the ovum. Sometimes, 

 nevertheless, the pregnancy lasts till the full 

 time (Gregorini), or sometimes longer, as 

 happened in a case observed by Lossins, in 

 which it lasted six years. Sometimes the 

 foetus disappears, and then this degenerated 

 vesicular mass is evacuated alone, with ex- 

 cessive haemorrhage and great pain. This 

 is the last period of what is called false preg- 

 nancy. 



The vesicles are inclosed in a kind of de- 

 cidua ; they are fixed on pedicles, from which 

 arise other vesicles with smaller stems, so as 

 to give to the whole the appearance of the 

 chorion, in an earlier period of its existence, 

 when the villi still preserve their original 

 vesicular form. The accurate observations of 

 Boeck show that, in most cases, these vesicles 

 contain blood, which sometimes can be dis- 

 placed by pressure from the one to the other 

 vesicle, or is coagulated. The internal sur- 

 face of the membrane which forms the vesicle 

 is smooth, the external interwoven with fibres. 

 A thus degenerated ovum has not the power 

 of bringing the foetus to a state of perfect 

 maturity. The death of the foetus and mis- 

 carriage are its consequences. Sometimes the 

 Mola botryoides is accompanied by malfor- 

 mation of the foetus ( Valisnieri). 



From this degeneration ought to be distin- 

 guished : 1st. The vesicular degeneration of 

 the placenta, when retained after a natural 

 parturition in the womb (Gregorini) ; 2nd. 

 The Polypi fugaces or vesiculares evacuated in 

 the anni climacterici by elderly women (Lev- 

 ret) ; 3rd. Those after suppressed menstrua- 

 tion in unpregnant women (Schleierbach, 

 Watson, Sporing, Lisfranc). As I have no ob- 

 servations of my own of any of these cases, 

 1 dare not pronounce any opinion about the 

 affinity of these vesicles to the Mola botryoides. 



2. Separation of the placenta into lubes or 

 cotyledons. This is without doubt to be 

 attributed to an arrest at a lower degree of 

 developement, and it offers some resemblance 



* Die angeborenen Chirurgischcn Krankheiten 

 des Menschen. Berlin, 1842. 



