536 



OBSTETRICAL OPERA TIOXS. 



Another kind of embryotom is one not unlike an ordinary large 

 scalpel, on one side of which glides a blade-guard that can also be moved 

 backwards or forwards by the thumb of the hand that holds it. This is 

 a very convenient knife (Fig. 201) ; there is also a similar embryotom, 

 projected from the handle by pressure of the finger on a button when 

 the incision is to be made, and which is perhaps preferable to any 



Fig. 200. 

 Guxther's Embryotom : Improved Pattern. 



others. Unsworth's embryotom (Fig. 202) is somewhat similar, the 

 blade being projected from the side of the handle by means of a spring 

 pressed upon by the finger. 



Embryotoms have also been proposed by Brogniez, Hubert, Contamin, 

 Obermayer, and others, but they all are more or less imitations of the 

 foregoing models. 



Fig. 201. 

 Colin's Scalpel Embryotom. 



Giinther figures an embryotom fixed on a handle, and which may be 

 of any convenient length — about thirty inches is recommended (Fig. 203); 

 the blade is semicircular, the concave border and point being very 

 sharp. This instrument is extolled for it usefulness in cutting through 

 the muscles subcutaneously, and especially in separating the limbs from 

 the trunk. The same authority gives the figure of a " Scheerenmesser,'' 



Fig. 202. 

 Unsworth's Spring Embryotom. 



or " secator,'' as it has been termed. This is an instrument about 

 thirty-six inches in length, composed of two branches, held together 

 by two short sheaths, through which the one glides on the other. Each 

 of the branches has a blade placed at a right angle to the stalk ; these 

 blades are opposite each other, the opposing edges being sharp, and 

 they are brought in contact by a rachet arrangement and screw moved 



