The nerves, of which there is always a certain number in the structure 

 of the secretory organs, and which are principally branches of the great 

 sympathetic* nerves, terminating- in various ways, in their substance, give 



tertain the notion of lunar influence, of fermentat on, of venereal appetite, of general 

 plethora or local congestion, &c. &c. ? The leading arguments, in defence of this doc- 

 trine, nui.) be thus enumerated. 



1. *lha\ the uterus, in its villous and vascular structure, resembles a gland, and also 

 in iis diseases, being equally liable to scirrhus, cancer, &c. &c. 



2. That, like otiier secretory organs, blood is very copiously diffused through it. 



3. That, by the arrangement of its vessels, it is evidently designed that the circula- 

 tion should oe retarded for the purpose of secretion. The arteries are not only exceed- 

 ingly convoluted, but tney are larger, and with thinner coats than their corresponding 

 veins. 



4. That, in common with other secretions, menstruation is often, at first, imperfectly 

 performed, and is subject afterwards to vitiation and derangement. In the beginning 

 the discharge is commonly thin, colourless, and deficient, and recurs at protracted and 

 irregular intervals. In some of the particulars, it is analogous to these seminal secre- 

 tion. 



5. That, in many of the inferior animal^ during the season of venereal incalescence, 

 there is an uterine effusion which is undoubtedly a secretion. This answers, seemingly, 

 the same end as menstruation, namely, giving to the uterus an aptitude for conception. 

 Though this fluid generally differs from the menses in complexion, yet in some instan- 

 ces, they are precisely similar. Whenever the veneral desire suffers a violent exacer- 

 bation from restraint or other causes, the discharges in these animals become red. This 

 has been more especially remarked in bitches kept from the male. 



6. That, when the menses are suppressed, they cannot be restored by inducing ple- 

 thora, noi the flow bo checked by blood-letting, or any other means of depletion. Be- 

 sides, no vicarious discharge relieves the symptoms of suppression. Do not these facts 

 very unequivocally proclaim the existence of a secretory function ? 



Lastly, That the menses are a fluid sui generis, or at least varying essentially from 

 blood ; having neither its colour, nor odour, nor coagulability, and, on chemical analysis, 

 present different results. Let us ask, if the menstrual fluid be not blood, what is it ? 

 To the objection, which has sometimes been urged, that the uterus is not sufficiently 

 glandular for the office alleged, it may be, I think, very satisfactorily replied, that there 

 is hardlv a viscus or surface of the body, which is not competent to this purpose. It 

 would really seem that no operation of the animal economy requires a less complex ap- 

 paratus. Of what, indeed, dors- a gland consist, except a congeries of vessels i 1 Even 

 the most perfect of the secretions are accomplished by this simple contrivance. If a 

 few vessels, " creeping through the coax's of the stomach," can secrete the gastric 

 liquor, why may not the infinitely more glandular organization of the uterus elaborate 

 the menstrual fluid ? As yet we know of no glandular structure in vegetables, they con- 

 taining only tubes or vessels, through which the fluids circulate. Notwithstanding, 

 however, the want of glands, we find the sap of plants converted into oil, mucilage, 

 acids, &c. No stronger proof can certainly be required of the extreme simplicity of 

 the organs by which the secretory transformations are effected. 



Who originally suggested the theory of secretion we have not been able to ascertain. 

 Ithasvery^enerally been'ascribedto the celebrated Mr. Hunter; but the evidence of 

 his claims to it is exceedingly slender. The only trace of it, which we can discover m 

 his writings, is a vague expression in a paragraph of his Treatise on the Blood. Atter- 

 wards, however, he furnished an extract from his lectures to be published in Johnson s 

 Midwiferv, as exhibiting more fully his notion respecting this function. Speaking of the 

 death of "the blood from lightening, and other sudden causes, he includes the catamenia 

 amonq; the illustrations of his reasonings. " The blood (says he) discharged in men- 

 struation is neither similar to blood taken from a vein of the same person, nor to that 

 extravasated by an accident in any other part of the body; but is a species of blood 

 clv*ne;ed separated, or thrown off from the common mass by an action of the vessels ot 

 the uterus, in a process similar to secretion, by which action the blood, having lost its hv- 

 int? principle, does not coagulate," &c. 



"The blood (says Holler) is brought into the womb in greater quantity, and more 

 quickly, through its lax and ample arteries, and on account of the rigidity and narrow- 

 ness of the veins it returns with difficulty. Chapman. 



* They are likewise given off, in great numbers, from the cerebral nerves : thus, the 



