go The Philippine Journal of Science i9i7 



Dr. B. C. Crowell, pathologist, College of Medicine and Surgery, 

 University of the Philippines, thought that the cause was an 

 antenatal rupture of the intestine with peritonitis. 



Autopsy Jfl70. — This female full-term baby lived for one month 

 and fifteen days and died with an undetermined diagnosis. The 

 anatomical finding is interesting, for the development of the 

 heart and vessels and the cloacal region seem to have been 

 arrested at the fifth month of foetal life. 



The anus is reddened and very small and measures about 0.5 

 centimeter in diameter. This has been operated for atresia ani. 

 The labia majora are not distinct. There is a protrusion in the 

 genital region about the clitoris which seems to be a fold inclosing 

 two small leaflets that are apparently the labia minora. Be- 

 tween these is an opening for both the urethra and vagina. 

 Foecal material comes both from the artificial anus and genital 

 opening. The relation of the urinary bladder, uterus, and its 

 appendages and the dilated upper part of the rectum is normal. 

 The lower part of the rectum is constricted, and its anterior 

 portion is continuous with the posterior surface of the uterus, 

 so that there is a continuous and free passage from the lumen 

 of the rectum to the vagina and into the uterine cavity, which 

 has a mesial septum that divides it into two cavities, each 

 one opening freely with the corresponding fallopian tube and into 

 the rectovaginal opening. 



The posterior wall of the urinary bladder is well separated 

 from the uterus externally, but the wall between it and the va- 

 gina is represented by a fold covered by mucosa and directed 

 toward the urethral opening or cloacal opening, so that a probe 

 passing through the latter could be directed into the urinary 

 bladder, cavity of the uterus, or into the rectum. 



The artificial anus is about 3 centimeters in length and com- 

 municates with the left horn of the uterus. The descending 

 colon is dilated and contains well-formed fseces. The muscu- 

 lature is not hypertrophied, and the lumen measures about 7 

 centimeters in diameter. 



The cardiovascular anomaly. The heart is dark blue and is 

 placed transversely. The apex is blunt, and the right ventricle 

 is more dilated, thicker, and more rounded than the left. The 

 right auricle is more dilated than the left and contains clots of 

 blood. The left auricle is small, especially the appendiceal por- 

 tion, and the mitral orifice is also small. The foramen ovale is 

 patent. The upper part of the interventricular septum is miss- 

 ing, so that both cavities empty into one common thick-walled 



