PUERPERAL FEVER 265 



outcast of the streets has pity upon her sister in degradation 

 when the seal of promised maternity is impressed upon her. 

 The remorseless vengeance of the law, brought down upon 

 its victim by a machinery as sure as destiny, is arrested in 

 its fall at a word which reveals her transient claim for 

 mercy. The solemn prayer of the liturgy singles out her 

 sorrows from the multiplied trials of life, to plead for her 

 in the hour of peril. God forbid that any member of the 

 profession to which she trusts her life, doubly precious at 

 that eventful period, should hazard it negligently, unadvised- 

 ly, or selfishly! 



There may be some among those whom I address who are 

 disposed to ask the question, What course are we to follow in 

 relation to this matter? The facts are before them, and the 

 answer must be left to their own judgment and conscience. 

 If any should care to know my own conclusions, they are the 

 following ; and in taking the liberty to state them very freely 

 and broadly, I would ask the inquirer to examine them as 

 freely in the light of the evidence which has been laid 

 before him. 



1. A physician holding himself in readiness to attend cases 

 of midwifery should never take any active part in the post- 

 mortem examination of cases of puerperal fever. 



2. If a physician is present at such autopsies, he should 

 use thorough ablution, change every article of dress, and 

 allow twenty -four hours or more to elapse before attending 

 to any case of midwifery. It may be well to extend the 

 same caution to cases of simple peritonitis. 



3. Similar precautions should be taken after the autopsy 

 or surgical treatment of cases of erysipelas, if the physician 

 is obliged to unite such offices with his obstetrical duties, 

 which is in the highest degree inexpedient. 



4. On the occurrence of a single case of puerperal fever 

 in his practice, the physician is bound to consider the next 

 female he attends in labor, unless some weeks at least have 

 elapsed, as in danger of being infected by him, and it is his 

 duty to take every precaution to diminish her risk of disease 

 and death. 



5. If within a short period two cases of puerperal fever 

 happen close to each other, in the practice of the same 



