Volume 4 — DISEASES OF THE GENITO-URINARY SYSTEM. (continued 15)

¹⁰ Scanzoni, Krankh. d. Weibl. Sexualorg., iv. Aufl. Bd. i., p. 203; Lados, Gaz. médic. de Paris, 1839, p. 605.

TREATMENT.—In general terms, the treatment may be described as vigorously antiphlogistic.

Chrobak¹¹ has pointed out in a detailed manner the absolute necessity of the most rigid attention to antisepsis in all the minor as well as the major operative procedures in gynæcology. The prophylaxis, a subject of vital importance, is limited, so far as the general practitioner is concerned, to the enforcement of absolute cleanliness in all manipulations of the female genito-urinary tract.

¹¹ "Untersuchung. der Weibl. Genitalia und Allgem. gyn. Therapie," Deutsche Chirurgie, Lief. 54.

Absolute rest in bed in the dorsal decubitus, with the pelvis elevated or depressed according to the patient's sensations, is a matter of primary importance. Pain demands for its relief the free use of morphine hypodermatically or opium per rectum. Chloral is a valuable adjuvant.

In the absence of menorrhagia free and repeated scarifications of the cervix are indicated to deplete the uterus. Twelve to twenty leeches applied to the abdomen above the symphysis will measurably relieve the congestion of the perimetrium. At a later stage, when the disorder does not occur at a menstrual epoch, mediate cold-water irrigation, by means of Leiter's modification of Petitgard's tubes, over the hypogastric region is an invaluable therapeutic resource. When the affection occurs during the period, hot compresses applied to the abdomen, hot sitz-baths, and even hot-water vaginal injections, are grateful.

The rectum and sigmoid flexure frequently require evacuation. A simple warm- or hot-water enema will usually secure this result. Occasionally a dose of castor oil is indicated, but drastic cathartics are distinctly contraindicated.

When the acute metritis is caused by traumatism, as in the case of operations on the cervix and curetting of the endometrium, the wounded surfaces demand attention. Under these conditions the neck of the uterus and the uterine cavity require careful antiseptic local treatment.

Abscesses in the uterine walls rarely indicate operative interference, except in case of pointing in the direction of the abdominal cavity. When incision is indicated the pus-cavity is usually large and superficial, and its evacuation involves no especial difficulty.

The treatment of the later stages of acute metritis will be considered in connection with the subject of Chronic Metritis.

Chronic Metritis.

SYNONYMS.—Chronic uterine infarct (Kiwisch); Diffuse connective-tissue hyperplasia of the entire uterus (Klob, C. Braun, Wedl); Induration of the uterus (Wenzel); Engorgement (Lisfranc); Hysteritis, Phlegmasie rouge (Duparcque); Congestion ou engorgement hypertrophique métrite (Becquerel); Interstitial metritis (De Sinéty); Congestive hypertrophy (Emmet); Areolar hyperplasia, Diffuse interstitial hypertrophy, Sclerosis uteri (Thomas, Skene); Subinvolution, Irritable uterus (Hodge).

In the absence of exact knowledge with reference to the ultimate pathology of so-called chronic metritis, it is impossible to frame a definition which cannot be justly criticised. Schroeder's definition answers all practical purposes, and probably contains as few objectionable terms as any other in the literature of the subject.

DEFINITION.—Hyperplasia of the connective tissue of the uterus combined with increased sensibility.

ETIOLOGY.—1. Subinvolution of the puerperal uterus is a frequent cause of chronic metritis. But the number of etiological factors which interfere directly and indirectly with the retrograde metamorphosis of the puerperal uterus is immense. Getting up too early from childbed, inability to suckle the child, too early sexual intercourse, retention within the uterine cavity of blood-clots or placental remains, acute inflammations of the uterus during the puerperium, retroversions and flexions of the puerperal uterus, severe exertion and the like,—are some of the more usual causes in this connection. Involution of the puerperal uterus is effected by contractions of the muscular walls, fatty metamorphosis of the uterine substance, and profuse secretion. Disturbance of any one of these processes may defer indefinitely the return of the organ to its normal relations. When pregnancy is prematurely interrupted the operation of each of these factors is materially modified. Uterine contractions are relatively feeble. The stimulus of a nursing child is also lacking. The albuminoids of the muscular protoplasm are not so readily converted into fat capable of easy resorption. A comparatively large quantity of decidua vera—even in the absence of portions of the foetal envelopes—is retained within the uterine cavity, and the secretory activity of the endometrium is seriously disturbed. Then, women are less careful after miscarriages than labor at term.

Laceration of the cervix uteri—an accident liable to occur in abortion as well as during confinement at term—if at all extensive, usually interferes with the retrograde metamorphosis of the uterus.

2. Continuous or repeated hyperæmia, active or passive, frequently exceeds physiological limits and leads to chronic metritis. Menstrual subinvolution, dysmenorrhoea from organic stenoses, flexions, changes in position with retained menstrual fluid, excessive venery, masturbation, conjugal onanism, chronic endometritis—especially gonorrhoeal—inflammations of the pelvic cellular tissue, chronic oöphoritis, new formations as in the case of carcinoma and myoma,—result in the production of active flexion and venous engorgement. The pernicious effects of conjugal onanism in the causation of chronic uterine infarct have been dwelt upon with particular fondness by Wenzel, Scanzoni, Emmet, Goodell, and numerous other ancient and modern gynæcologists of distinction. Van de Warker,¹² on the other hand, is of the decided opinion that the operation of this etiological factor has been exaggerated. His conclusions are based upon an incomplete gynæcological study of the Oneida Community. Onanism was practised on a colossal scale by this strange people for a number of years. Summing up the results of his imperfect investigations, Van de Warker says: "I can discover nothing but negative evidence relating to the effect of male continence upon the health of the community." It is quite possible that too much importance has also been attached to excessive venery. Fritsch¹³ does not stand alone when he says, "I have examined puellæ publicæ for years, but have not gained the impression that metritis chronica is of frequent occurrence."

¹² Ely Van de Warker, "A Gynecological Study of the Oneida Community," The American Journal of Obstetrics, etc., August, 1884.

¹³ Heinrich Fritsch, Die Lageveränderungen und die Entzündungen der Gebärmutter, 1885, p. 318.

3. Venous stasis from organic hepatic, cardiac, and pulmonary diseases doubtless predisposes to chronic inflammation of the metrium. Constipation, usually habitual with invalids, and an over-distended bladder, are causes which are more frequently and directly operative in the production of vascular engorgement and displacements of the uterus.

4. Various operative procedures upon the cervix, ill-advised and frequently repeated intra-uterine applications, must be included in the list of causative agencies.

5. Chronic metritis is one mode of termination of acute inflammation of the uterine parenchyma. This method of origin, however, is seldom observed except after repeated attacks of acute inflammation, as in the case of gonorrhoeal infection.

The enumeration of possible causes might be indefinitely prolonged. Scanzoni's classical monograph on chronic metritis contains a much larger number. As remarked by Fritsch,¹⁴ "In the elastic bands of his conception of the disease every catarrh, every affection of the uterus, fitted finally snugly into place." The more common efficient causes have been indicated.

¹⁴ Op. cit., p. 299.

PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY.—Modern pathological doctrines on chronic metritis are largely modifications of the opinions so ably advocated by Scanzoni¹⁵ in 1863. Scanzoni, while fully recognizing the various forms of chronic uterine infarct, simplified the study of the subject by comprehending them all under two stages: I. the stage of infiltration; II. the stage of induration.

¹⁵ Die Chronische Metritis, Wien, 1863.

I. In the first stage the uterine tissue is infiltrated with serum, blood, and fibrin (serös-blutige, serös-faserstoffige Infiltration). The organ is in a state of engorgement oedema, the consequence of active and passive hyperæmia. It is enlarged in volume, altered in shape, reddened and more or less sensitive on pressure, soft and doughy to the sense of touch. The uterus may remain in this condition, or, after a longer or shorter interval, pass over into the stage of induration. Long-continued venous hyperæmia leads with comparative infrequency to induration, although intercurrent inflammations, exudations, and new formations of tissue may produce that effect. This stage cannot be invariably viewed as of an inflammatory character. These enlargements of the uterus are frequently examples of the nutritive disturbances commonly observed in other organs in consequence of long-continued venous hyperæmia. The close correspondence of Scanzoni's stage of infiltration with Emmet's congestive hypertrophy is at once apparent.

II. In the stage of induration a luxuriant growth of connective tissue replaces the specific tissue-elements which are destroyed by a chronic inflammatory process. Early in this stage there may be an actual increase in size of the individual muscular elements. Ultimately, the hypertrophy disappears, the soft and succulent connective tissue becomes fibrillated, and the vessels are narrowed, sometimes obliterated, by its contraction. The uterus, though still enlarged and altered in shape, is of a pale color, anæmic, dry, tough, and hard. Ultimately, the uterus is reduced in size by the cicatricial contraction of the firm, fibrillar connective tissue. On section the tissue is white, of cartilaginous consistence, and the knife creaks as it divides the structures. Scanzoni's stage of induration is thus nearly identical with the areolar hyperplasia, diffuse interstitial hypertrophy, sclerosis uteri, of Thomas and Skene.

Klob¹⁶ a pupil of Rokitansky's, attributes the hyperplasia of connective tissue to nutritive disturbances, considers the terms chronic metritis and chronic infarct anatomically incorrect, and classes the condition among the new formations. Carl Braun¹⁷ and Wedl in 1864 assumed the same position.

¹⁶ Jul. M. Klob, Pathologische Anatomie d. Weibl. Sexualorgane, Wien, 1864.

¹⁷ Lehrbuch d. g. Gynaekologie, Wien, 1881, p. 351.

Klebs¹⁸ is of the opinion that, although the so-called chronic uterine infarct may be of inflammatory origin, in the majority of cases the clinical and anatomical demonstration is lacking. With Scanzoni and Virchow, he distinguishes two forms of the disease, the one consisting in hyperplasia of the muscular elements, the other in a similar change in the connective tissue.

¹⁸ Handbuch der Pathologischen Anatomie, Berlin, 1873, iv. p. 878.

Birch-Hirschfeld¹⁹ supports the doctrine of Scanzoni, that the stage of induration at least is of an inflammatory nature. The connective tissue is formed out of emigrated white blood-corpuscles. Hypertrophy of the muscular elements is also observed in certain cases.

¹⁹ Pathologische Anatomie, p. 1131.

Fritsch²⁰ has materially strengthened the position of Scanzoni by his recent anatomical investigations. Mayrhofer²¹ substantially reproduces Scanzoni's doctrines.

²⁰ Op. cit., p. 309 et seq., Stuttgart, 1885.

²¹ Entwicklungsfehler und Entzündungen des Uterus.

Finally, the great majority of modern clinicians have accepted Scanzoni's teachings as originally uttered or as modified in non-essential details. Schroeder,²² De Sinéty,²³ and A. Martin²⁴ are notable examples of the truth of this statement.

²² Carl Schroeder, Handbuch der Krankheiten d. Weibl. Geschlechtsorgane, Leipzig, 1881, p. 91.

²³ L. de Sinéty, Manuel practique de Gynécologie et des Maladies des Femmes, Paris, 1879.

²⁴ Op. cit., Wien, 1885, p. 185.

The hyperplasia of the connective tissue may be diffuse or circumscribed. It may be limited in development to the collum or corpus uteri. The perimetrium is usually thickened, and other signs of chronic inflammation of that structure are usually present. Chronic endometritis is a constant accompaniment. The pelvic connective tissue is not commonly involved. The plexus pampiniformes and utero-vaginales frequently undergo varicose dilatation.

SYMPTOMS.—The onset of the disease is so insidious and protracted that it is difficult to determine the exact order of occurrence of the symptoms in point of time. Then the complications are so numerous and important that the symptoms of the chronic metritis are frequently masked. A sensation of weight, fulness, or pressure within the pelvis may direct the patient's attention to her condition. This sensation may increase to such a degree that the woman complains of heavy, dull, dragging pains, referred to the centre of the pelvis or the sacral region. Backache is a constant and distressing symptom. Pains radiating up over the abdominal parietes and down the thighs are frequently experienced. Coitus may be productive of acute distress. When the uterus is anteverted, pressing against the bladder, ischuria is the usual result. Constipation, usually present as one of the etiological factors, is aggravated by the retroversion or retroflexion of the top-heavy uterus. Under these circumstances one or both ovaries may be drawn down along with the prolapsed, retroverted uterus, and add materially to the woman's discomfort. The act of defecation is painful; the woman avoids the water-closet, days and even weeks elapsing between evacuations.

Disturbances of the menstrual function are constant. All forms of dysmenorrhoea, including dysmenorrhoea membranacea, are liable to occur. Menstruation is usually profuse, giving origin to menorrhagia, which usually results in the production of an alarming degree of anæmia. The periods are irregular in recurrence and duration. The periodic discharge of blood may last from one to three weeks, and then cease, to reappear after a variable interval of from six to eight weeks. In other cases menstruation may last the usual length of time, but recur every two or three weeks. Amenorrhoea may be observed in the stage of induration.

Priestly,²⁵ Fasbender,²⁶ Fehling, and numerous other clinicians have called attention to intermenstrual pain (règles surnuméraires) as a tolerably constant symptom of chronic metritis. From fourteen to fifteen days after and before the regular time for menstruation vague intrapelvic pains are complained of, and the woman is of the opinion that the monthly flow of blood is about to begin. The pains, however, are not so severe, and do not last so long, as those of menstruation. Occasionally bloody mucus may escape from the vagina. Fehling ascribes this intermenstrual pain to the swelling of the mucous membrane preparatory to the next monthly discharge of blood. The symptom is not at all pathognomonic, as it occurs in connection with oöphoritis and other pathological conditions.

²⁵ Brit. Med. Journ., 1872, p. 431.

²⁶ Zeitschrift f. Gebürtskulfe und Frauenkrankheiten, i. 1.

As the result of the chronic endometritis, which usually follows parenchymatous inflammation, metrorrhagia is frequently observed. Leucorrhoea, more or less profuse, is a constant symptom. Opinions vary extremely as to the systemic reaction following chronic metritis. General failure of nutrition, functional disturbances of the gastro-intestinal canal, hysteria, headache,²⁷ facial neuralgia (Barnes), coccygodynia, vaginodynia, skin diseases, alopecia (Hebra), and a host of other affections, have been ascribed from time to time to the direct influence of chronic uterine infarct. Doubtless, the condition under discussion plays an important rôle in the production of these and other disorders. But the position is utterly untenable at the present day that chronic parenchymatous inflammation of the uterus is the efficient cause in the absence of all other etiological factors.²⁸

²⁷ Peaselee, "Uterine Headache," American Medical Monthly, 1860.

²⁸ Fritsch, op. cit., 1885, p. 323.

Intercostal neuralgia and mastodynia, with swelling of the breasts and darkening of the areolæ, are phenomena of such constant occurrence in connection with chronic uterine infarct that a direct causal nexus is in a high degree probable. The investigations of Krause²⁹ have established the fact of anastomotic communication between the arteries supplying the mammary gland and those distributed to the uterus. The perforating branches of the internal mammary artery supply in part the mammary gland. The superior epigastric artery, one of the terminal branches of the internal mammary, anastomoses with the inferior epigastric, which arises from the external iliac a few lines above Poupart's ligament. The inferior epigastric sends off a spermatic branch which passes along the round ligament and anastomoses with the ovarian artery derived from the aorta, and the uterine artery derived from the anterior trunk of the internal iliac. The nervous communication is effected through the sympathetic and spinal nerves. There is nothing remarkable, therefore, in the occurrence of intercostal neuralgia, mastodynia, and nutritive disturbances in the mammary gland as the result of chronic parenchymatous inflammation of the uterus. The intercostal neuralgia and mastodynia are examples of reflected neuroses the result of compression of nerve-fibres by the infiltration or of an ascending neuritis (Fritsch).

²⁹ Specielle und Makroskopische Anatomie, Hannover, 1879.

PHYSICAL SIGNS OF CHRONIC METRITIS.—Bimanual palpation prior to the stage of cicatricial contraction reveals alterations in size, shape, position, consistence, and sensibility of the uterus. Variations in size are extreme. Veit³⁰ has recorded a case in which the fundus extended two inches above the umbilicus. The uterus is usually thickened, especially in its antero-posterior diameter. As regards position, the organ may be prolapsed, elevated, or remain in situ. The consistence will depend upon the stage of the disease. During the stage of infiltration the organ is soft and imparts a doughy sensation to the examining finger. During an exacerbation of acute inflammation the vagina is hot and dry; the uterus is swollen with blood and very sensitive on pressure. During the intervals between exacerbations no change in sensibility is noticed. The sound demonstrates a varying degree of elongation of the uterine cavity. During the second stage, after cicatricial contraction of the connective-tissue elements, the uterus is relatively small, hard, and insensible.

³⁰ Frauenkrankheiten, 2 Aufl. p. 367.

The cervix is hard or soft according to the time of examination. In virgins or women who have not borne children enlargement is of relatively infrequent occurrence. In multiparæ, especially in cases of bilateral cervical laceration, the increase in volume is great. The mucous membrane of the cervical canal is everted and studded with minute cysts—distended follicles.

The influence of chronic metritis upon conception is not direct. When the endometrium is not seriously involved the condition seems to exercise no untoward influence. However, associated with chronic uterine infarct as complications we have endometritis, salpingitis, oöphoritis, perimetritis, and displacements, pathological states which may obviously cause sterility.

When conception does occur, abortion follows with relative frequency. The reason why is not clear. The chronic endometritis may interfere with the development of the decidua; the parenchyma may not be able to undergo evolution. When pregnancy reaches its normal termination, labor is not materially influenced by the pathological condition of the uterus, but complications are liable to occur during the puerperium. Postpartum hemorrhages which do not readily yield to ergot are observed as the result of the deficiency in muscular elements. The hyperplasia of the connective-tissue elements and destruction of the muscular tissue is a distinct predisposing cause of complete or incomplete uterine inversion. Subinvolution is increased. Menstruation recurs soon after pregnancy, and the chronic metritis is aggravated.³¹

³¹ A. Martin, op. cit., Wien, 1885, p. 189.

Occasionally, gestation, parturition, the puerperium, and lactation seem to exercise a favorable influence on the state of the parenchyma. In exceptional cases all traces of the original chronic metritis disappear with the puerperium. The connective-tissue hyperplasia may undergo the same involution to which the hypertrophied muscular tissue is subject. This favorable termination of the disease is seldom observed during the stage of induration.

TERMINATIONS.—I. Chronic metritis may terminate during the stage of infiltration in resolution. This mode of termination is rare. It is observed occasionally as the result of involution in the puerperal uterus. Judicious treatment in favorable cases may reduce the size of the uterus and relieve all distressing symptoms. Recidiva of the disease are liable to occur, however, and all traces of the former condition seldom disappear.

II. Usually, the condition persists, with acute exacerbations, through years, until cessation of menstruation and ovulation occurs. Under the influence of the change of life the symptoms may gradually disappear and the uterus may undergo senile atrophy. In some cases chronic uterine infarct seems to defer the climacteric changes. Finally, the disease may continue after the menopause, usually with abatement in the severity of the symptoms.

III. The morbid condition may terminate in induration. The uterus becomes comparatively small, hard, and insensible. Amenorrhoea may be the result. This process may be viewed as a relative cure, since it is attended, as a rule, with amelioration of all the troublesome symptoms.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS.—It is not always an easy matter to institute a differential diagnosis between chronic metritis and pregnancy and fibroid tumors by bimanual palpation. Alterations in the volume, form, position, consistence, and sensibility of the uterus occur in pregnancy as in chronic metritis. But in pregnancy the uterus, particularly in its vaginal portion, is softer; the organ is not so sensitive; the cyanotic hue of the vaginal mucous membrane is more marked; arterial pulsations in the vagina are more evident; the uterus enlarges more rapidly; finally, there is the history of the case. Pregnancy may occur, however, in a chronically inflamed uterus, and this fact must be borne in mind.

The alterations in the size of the uterus are usually circumscribed in fibroid tumors. One wall is thickened; the other retains its normal relations. In submucous fibroids the cervix is shortened; in chronic metritis it is usually enlarged. In both submucous and interstitial fibroids the cavity of the uterus is encroached upon—a fact to be determined by the use of the sound. The history of the case will throw some light upon the differential diagnosis. Frequently, however, it is impossible to exclude fibroids by any of the means already mentioned. Dilatation of the cervix, and the careful examination of the walls by the finger introduced into the uterine cavity, will clear up the diagnosis in the most obscure case.

PROGNOSIS.—The prognosis with reference to life is favorable. The duration of life however, may be abbreviated in exceptional cases by disturbances of nutrition, anæmia the result of menorrhagia and metrorrhagia, extension of the inflammation to the peritoneum, and the like—conditions which predispose to some intercurrent affection.

Although the immediate danger of death is minimal, the woman is rendered wretched by the frequent exacerbations of acute inflammation and other symptoms already mentioned. The spontaneous disappearance of the affection with the puerperium or menopause is of such seldom occurrence as to have but slight bearing on the general rule.

Under judicious treatment disappearance of the more distressing symptoms may be confidently expected during the stage of infiltration. The outlook is especially favorable in cases of puerperal subinvolution in the absence of chronic inflammations of the endometrium and parametrium. A perfect restitution of the uterus to its normal condition is so seldom effected by any rational therapy that for practical purposes this desirable result may be excluded from consideration. Recidiva of the disease are liable to occur at any time.

TREATMENT.—Prophylaxis.—Very much can be done to prevent the occurrence of chronic metritis. A careful consideration of the etiology of the disease will at once suggest the principles of prophylactic treatment. The conduct of the second stage of labor, the puerperium, lactation, the hygiene of menstruation, are subjects especially significant in this connection. Antecedent acute metritis and endometritis under a rational therapy usually terminate in resolution, and their pernicious influences as etiological factors may be avoided, or at least modified, in the large majority of cases. The early rectification of uterine flexions and displacement is urgently indicated in view of the probable consequences.

Uncomplicated chronic metritis is such a rare affection that efforts at curative treatment are seldom addressed to the condition of the parenchyma, to the exclusion of the endometrium, perimetrium, and parametrium. Certain special indications, however, exist in the case of chronic uterine infarct, and the discussion of treatment is limited here to their consideration.

1. Local Treatment.—In view of the pathology of the condition, local treatment, especially in the first stage, is antiphlogistic.

Hot-Water Vaginal Douche.—The irrigation of the vagina with hot water, of different degrees of temperature according to the indications in the concrete case, deservedly occupies the high position in American gynæcological therapeutics which Emmet³² in particular has assigned it. The smooth muscular fibres of the uterus are excited to contract, and the whole pelvic circulation is directly or indirectly influenced. During the stage of infiltration—Emmet's congestive hypertrophy—hot-water vaginal irrigation is simply an invaluable adjuvant. But to secure the maximum benefit from this remedy it must be rationally employed. With reference to posture, Emmet recommends the dorsal decubitus, with elevation of the hips, or, better, the genu-pectoral position. The temperature of the water should be rapidly elevated from blood-heat to 110° F., or to as high a degree as the patient can tolerate. The quantity of water will vary with the stage of the treatment and the improvement in health of the patient. It is customary to begin the irrigations with one to two gallons of water, and to increase or decrease the quantity according to circumstances. Two irrigations per diem—one at night before going to bed, one in the morning upon rising—are usually sufficient. Fritsch³³ has tried on an extensive scale the plan of continuous vaginal irrigation with hot water through five and even ten hours, but has obtained better results with the simple periodic vaginal douche as recommended by Emmet.

³² Principles and Practice of Gynæcology, 3d ed. 1884, pp. 85, 113.

³³ Op. cit., 1885, p. 337.

During the stage of induration, when the muscular elements have been destroyed and replaced by connective tissue, the beneficial effects of the hot-water douche are decidedly less evident. Nor is the plan applicable to all cases during the stage of congestive hypertrophy. General nervous excitement, insomnia, and even positive intrapelvic pain, sometimes, though rarely, may result. The range of therapeutic application of the hot-water vaginal douche is largely empirical.

Local Depletion.—The local bloodletting of from a drachm to one ounce of the fluid, repeated according to the indications every three or four days, ranks next to the hot-water vaginal douche in importance as an antiphlogistic agent. This plan of treatment is of especial value as an adjuvant during the stage of infiltration in cases of menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, exacerbations of acute inflammation, and the like. Local depletion, however, is a double-edged sword. It may cause an increased determination of blood to the uterus and aggravate the pathological condition already existing. This effect is observed when the bloodletting is practised at too short intervals.³⁴ Thus, frequent scarifications of the cervix constitute a most important therapeutic resource in the treatment of certain forms of atrophy of the uterus.

³⁴ A. Martin, op. cit., 1885, p. 59.

Local depletion of the cervix is effected by scarification, puncture, leeches, wet and dry cupping. Scarification and puncture have almost entirely superseded the other two methods.

Local depletion has fallen into a state of comparative disuse in America. In the Woman's Hospital of New York³⁵ it has almost completely passed out of vogue. In Germany, however, it constitutes the basis of all methods of treatment. Schroeder, A. Martin of Berlin, H. Fritsch of Breslau, Carl Braun, Spaeth, and Chrobals of Vienna unite in enthusiastic advocacy of its intelligent employment in suitable cases.

³⁵ T. Gaillard Thomas, Diseases of Women, 5th ed., 1880, p. 334.

Glycerin Tamponade.—Sims many years ago called attention to the employment of cotton tampons saturated with glycerin in the treatment of chronic metritis and kindred affections. In virtue of its avidity for water the glycerin tampon, when placed in the vagina, provokes a profuse aqueous discharge. The albuminoid constituents of the blood are not affected, while the capillaries are drained of their aqueous elements. Emmet³⁶ has substituted oakum for absorbent cotton. Oakum, when saturated with glycerin, becomes soft as a sponge, is perfectly antiseptic, and will remain odorless in the vagina a much longer time than cotton. Glycerin dissolves the salts more readily than water. Boric acid (1:10), potassium iodide (5:100), iodoform, chloral, and a variety of substances may be applied locally by means of this menstruum. Glycerin, employed in conjunction with hot-water vaginal irrigation and scarification, or used alone in cases contraindicating these procedures, is an important addition to our therapeutic resources.

³⁶ Gynæcology, 1884, p. 128.

Local Alteratives.—Much importance is attached in the United States to the application of various alteratives to the vaginal portion and endometrium in cases of chronic uterine infarct. They may accomplish good results indirectly—for example, by curing the accompanying endometritis—but it is doubtful whether they have any direct effect in hastening the resorption of the infiltration.

The vaginal vault and intravaginal portion of the cervix are usually painted with the compound tincture of iodine; mercury, potassium iodide, iodoform, and other substances are introduced into the vagina by means of vaseline, gelatin, and cacao butter.

Operative Treatment.—1. Repair of Lacerations of the Cervix.—The importance of the repair of lacerations of the cervix for the cure of chronic uterine infarct and allied conditions was recognized by Emmet in 1862. In the autumn of 1862 he devised and performed the operation, which is now known the world over as Emmet's operation. This highly original and valuable surgical procedure has been but little modified in the years which have intervened since its first full description in 1869.

2. Amputation of the Collum Uteri.—Carl Braun³⁷ and Wedl in 1864 pointed out the fact that amputation of the neck of the chronically inflamed uterus is frequently followed by a more or less complete involution of the whole organ, resembling very closely the reductive metamorphosis of the puerperal uterus. August Martin in recent years has called attention to Braun's observation, and at the Naturforscherversammlung in Cassel described a series of seventy cases in which amputation of the collum uteri had been performed for the relief of chronic metritis. As an ultimate resort in extreme cases, amputation of the neck of the uterus is now a generally well-recognized operative procedure.³⁸

³⁷ Wiener Med. Jahrbücher, Wien, 1864.

³⁸ H. Fritsch, op. cit., 1885, p. 343.

3. Castration.—At a comparatively recent date a determined effort has been made to include desperate cases of chronic metritis under the indications for the performance of oöphorectomy. Numerous and distinguished surgeons have taken this advanced position. But at the present time the cases in which the operation has been performed are too few in number and too recent to warrant positive deductions with reference to the effects of the operation.

2. General Treatment.—It is not possible to adequately discuss the subject of the general or constitutional treatment of chronic metritis in the limited space at our command. It is scarcely necessary to add that the subject is of vital importance, and more frequently neglected than the local treatment. The indications for therapeutic aid are usually apparent, and are not always peculiar to the condition. Attention has been directed, in other portions of this work, to the importance of the observation of hygienic laws, in the widest sense of that expression, with respect to diet, rest, clothing, recreation, personal cleanliness, temperance in sexual intercourse, and other bodily habits.

Habitual constipation, involving as it does engorgement of the portal system and pelvic veins, demands especial consideration. In the absence of regular daily alvine dejections the most elaborate plan of local and constitutional treatment will fail to effect amelioration of symptoms. Diet, exercise, and the like are not sufficient, as a rule, to correct this most obstinate habit. Among remedial agents, senna, rhubarb, cascara sagrada, and the milder laxatives deserve particular mention. The compound licorice powder and confection of senna of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia are comparatively innocent in their effects, even when used through long periods of time. Aloes must be employed with a certain amount of caution. As pointed out by August Martin,³⁹ when there is a disposition to uterine hemorrhages the drug, in the exercise of its well-known influence on the pelvic circulation, may increase this tendency. Clysters may be employed to advantage in connection with hygienic and medical means.

³⁹ Op. cit., p. 195.

Ergot, hydrastis canadensis, potassium iodide, ammonium chloride, strychnia, are among the remedial agents which are supposed to have some direct effect upon the condition of the uterine parenchyma. Ergot may be exhibited by the mouth or hypodermatically. Squibb's fluid extract, while an active and tolerably agreeable preparation, is not as effective as the decoction employed on an extensive scale in many of the German hospitals, and the formula of which we append:

Rx. Secalis cornuti recent. pulver., 15.0

Alcohol., 5.0

Acidi sulphurici, 2.0

Aquæ, 500.0

Coque ad 200.0

Ne cola.

Adde Syr. cinnamom., 30.0

Dose: Two to three teaspoonfuls, pro re nata. This unfiltered decoction is extremely distasteful, and its continued use is not without effect upon the gastric mucous membrane. It is, however, physiologically very active. Subcutaneous injections of Squibb's aqueous extract of ergot may be occasionally employed with benefit to keep up the impression of the remedy when exhibition per os is interrupted. Schatz speaks in high terms of the fluid extract of hydrastis canadensis in doses of fifteen to twenty drops two or three times daily.

All European writers ascribe an important influence to the numerous watering-places and baths of the Continent in the treatment of chronic uterine infarct. The rigid observance of hygienic rules, the imbibition of enormous quantities of water more or less impregnated with salines and carbonic acid, the frequent bathings, exercise, and recreation, undoubtedly effect amelioration of symptoms in many desperate cases.

Acute Endometritis.

ETIOLOGY.—An acute inflammation of the mucous membrane of the uterus is a rare affection before puberty. The acute infectious diseases play an important rôle in the production of the condition. The acute exanthems—smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, cholera, typhus, typhoid, and relapsing fever, certain forms of malarial fever—deserve mention in this connection. Probably owing to some change in the constitution of the blood, these diseases predispose to the hemorrhagic form of acute endometritis. The rapid cooling off of extensive areas of the skin surface during menstruation frequently leads to an acute inflammation of the endometrium, with suppression of the flow as one of the first symptoms. Gonorrhoeal infection and sepsis are most important causative factors. Ill-advised therapeutic procedures, as in the case of acute metritis, must be included in the list of causative agencies. Finally, acute endometritis may be caused by various poisons. Among toxic agents which may give origin to the condition under discussion phosphorus is especially noteworthy.⁴⁰

⁴⁰ Hausmann, Berl. Beitr. z. Geb. u. Gyn., Bd. i. S. 265.

PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY.—The entire lining membrane of the uterine cavity may be involved in the inflammatory process; usually, the mucosa of the body and fundus is affected, the mucosa of the cervical canal remaining normal. The mucous membrane is of a dark-red color, swollen, softened, and presents a velvety appearance. Its connection with the muscularis is loosened, so that it can frequently be stripped off with the handle of a scalpel. Minute extravasations of blood are visible in the superficial layers and on the surface. The interglandular connective tissue is the seat of the inflammatory process. The glands are involved secondarily. The ciliated epithelium is destroyed and cast off at an early stage. The bloody discharge from the uterine cavity becomes serous, and finally purulent, during the progress of the condition. The cervical secretion becomes thin, turbid, and profuse.

The inflammatory process is seldom limited to the endometrium. It involves, as a rule, the tubal mucous membrane, the uterine parenchyma, and the perimetrium.

DIAGNOSIS.—The symptoms resemble closely in kind, but differ in degree from, the appearances in acute metritis. The uterus is smaller and not so painful on pressure. The endometrium is sensitive to the slightest touch—a fact elicited upon the passage of the sound. The characteristic symptom is the discharge from the uterine cavity of a more or less profuse secretion possessing the character already mentioned. An absolute differential diagnosis is impossible, nor is it necessary, seeing that the treatment of the two conditions is nearly identical.

PROGNOSIS.—Acute endometritis terminates in resolution or chronic inflammation. The latter mode of termination is of more frequent occurrence, particularly in the presence of gonorrhoea, sepsis, and the like as etiological factors. The disease endangers life when the peritoneum is involved by the propagation of the inflammatory process along the tubes or through the uterine parenchyma. Then the acute endometritis may be the starting-point of general septic infection through the media of the veins and lymphatic vessels.

TREATMENT.—Absolute rest in bed, the relief of pain by morphine, the evacuation of the bowels by enemata or mild laxatives, the free imbibition of bland mucilaginous fluids for the vesical tenesmus,—are measures which usually fulfil all indications for treatment. Even in the case of gonorrhoeal infections astringent applications to the endometrium are contraindicated. Usually, various complications mark the endometritis, the starting-point of the pathological condition, and these complications demand more active interference.

Chronic Endometritis.

ETIOLOGY.—Attention has been called to the etiology of chronic metritis in a somewhat detailed manner. The limits of this paper will not admit of adequate mention even of the more common causative factors of chronic endometritis. All the conditions which determine an active fluxion or passive hyperæmia of the uterus may operate as causative factors. Hypersecretion of mucus is frequently observed in chlorotic, scrofulous, and tuberculous females. Syphilis and gonorrhoea are potential causative agents. Climate seems to exercise a more or less direct influence. Thus, we are informed by Schroeder⁴¹ that chronic endometritis is observed with relative frequency in damp, cool regions, such as Holland, Belgium, and certain parts of England. Europeans who reside in hot climates—for example, the Englishwomen living in India—are said to be affected with leucorrhoea to a degree entirely out of proportion to local or constitutional causes.

⁴¹ Handbuch der Krankheiten der Weiblichen Geschlechtsorgane, 1881, p. 111.

PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY.—An analogy of striking character exists between the structural changes in chronic endometritis and chronic metritis. In chronic endometritis, as in chronic metritis, it is possible to clearly distinguish two stages in the inflammatory process. In the first, or stage of infiltration, a more or less acute inflammation is observed, which involves, primarily, the interglandular connective tissue; secondarily, the glands themselves. When the stage of infiltration does not terminate in resolution with the resorption of the exudate, the newly-formed connective-tissue elements contract, and the glands are to a greater or less degree obliterated.

1. Chronic Catarrhal Endometritis.—The endometrium during the first stage is swollen, vascular, soft, and succulent. Small extravasations of blood and pigmentary deposits from ecchymoses are observed in the interacinous connective tissue. The surface of the mucous membrane is smooth or roughened in spots. The orifices of the glands are visible. The mucous membrane of the cervix is infected, its transverse folds distended, the follicles filled with mucus, the canal plugged with tenacious turbid secretion; the vaginal portion is enlarged, spongy, and its mucous membrane exhibits hypertrophic changes in the papillary body. The os externum is frequently patulous. The uterine walls having undergone excentric hypertrophy, the cavity is usually enlarged, and contains a translucent alkaline secretion which resembles mucus.

Microscopical examination of the endometrium reveals a variety of structural changes. A luxuriant development of embryonal connective-tissue elements is observed with relative frequency in the interacinous connective tissue. Olshausen has applied the term chronic hyperplastic endometritis to this condition. The term chronic interstitial endometritis has been more generally accepted. While the newly-formed connective-tissue elements are soft and succulent, hemorrhages are frequent.

Changes in the glandular structures may become more prominent features than alterations in the connective tissue. The laminæ of the glands and the cells of the acini increase in size. The glands branch, frequently resulting in the production of a dendritic network. Schroeder and Carl Ruge have termed this glandular endometritis diffuse adenoma.

The thickness of the mucous membrane may increase in spots from three or four millimeters to fourteen or fifteen millimeters, and there is produced a form of chronic endometritis which is known as fungoid or polypoid.

Under the name endometritis villosa Slavianski described in 1874 a condition of the uterine mucous membrane which consists in a papillary growth of the endometrium with myxomatous degeneration of the vessel tunics.

During the stage of induration the ciliated epithelium, destroyed and cast off during the stage of infiltration, is replaced by cells which resemble squamous epithelium. The utricular glands, with dilated cavities, are flattened out, entirely obliterated, or present the appearance of shallow crypts. The secretion is gradually diminished, until finally the endometrium is converted into a layer of connective tissue.

Under the names erosion, ulceration, granulation, and the like a variety of pathological conditions, entirely distinct from, sometimes in connection with, cervical laceration and ectropium, are included. The flattened epithelium covering the vaginal portion may be cast off, and replaced by the dark-red subjacent cylindrical epithelium, giving origin to the condition known as simple erosion. Occasionally, glandular canals, formed out of these cylindrical cells, and penetrating the mucous membrane in every direction, present the appearances of papillary erosion; and the condition has accordingly been termed by Carl Ruge papillary ulcer. Cervical secretions may stagnate in these glandular tubes, retention-cysts appear, and the condition technically termed follicular erosion results. In all forms of cervical erosion or laceration the secretions are increased in amount and altered in physical and chemical characters during the stage of infiltration. In a later stage of the disease the hyperplasia and subsequent contraction of the connective-tissue elements may result in the total obliteration of all traces of glandular structure. There is a certain amount of probable evidence in favor of the view that these changes in the cylindrical cells normally situated beneath the squamous epithelium covering the vaginal portion may terminate in malignant disease. These erosions, in the present state of our knowledge, must be viewed as symptomatic of chronic endocervicitis.

2. Dysmenorrhoea Membranacea.—The exfoliation and casting off of large pieces, or even of the superficial layers, of the entire endometrium during menstruation has been observed from the days of Morgagni up to the present time. Peter Frank pointed out the resemblance between this exfoliation and the membrana caduca. Simpson, recognizing the sieve-like perforations caused by the utricular glands, termed the condition exfoliation of the hypertrophic mucous membrane. Virchow erroneously termed the membrane decidua menstrualis. Olshausen, Wyder, and v. Recklinghausen (1877) have demonstrated the truth of Simpson's view, and have shown that the condition must be regarded as a symptom of a series of endometritic inflammatory processes. In all cases in which a decidual membrane is cast off the diagnosis of abortion must be made, whether the pregnancy be intra-uterine or extra-uterine.

Wyger has reported a case in which syphilis was regarded as an etiological factor. This observation has not been confirmed.

3. Chronic Croupous Inflammation of the Endometrium is sometimes observed in connection with carcinoma of the corpus. It may follow gangrenous vaginitis in diphtheria and the acute infectious diseases. The interacinous connective tissue is infiltrated with fibrinous materials, and extravasations of blood are everywhere visible. The superficial layers of the mucous membrane become gangrenous, are cast off, and occasionally the entire intra-uterine expanse is converted into a wound surface.

DIAGNOSIS.—The symptoms of chronic endometritis and endocervicitis are usually masked by the appearance of the accompanying chronic metritis. Intrapelvic pains, disturbance of the menstrual function, extra-menstrual hemorrhages, the presence of a more or less profuse leucorrhoea, are signs which urgently indicate bimanual palpation.

The catarrhal secretion from the utricular glands may be imprisoned within the uterine cavity by a functional or organic stricture of the internal os, resulting in periodic discharges of a thin, translucent alkaline fluid, readily distinguishable from the thick, tenacious cervical mucus. In certain cases, particularly in old women, the blenorrhoeal secretion may be permanently retained within the uterine cavity, constituting the condition hydrometra.

The introduction of a small sharp spoon within the cavity of the uterus will enable the observer to remove sufficient tissue for microscopical examination without entailing the slightest injury on the patient. A positive diagnosis can be made in this way, and a rational therapy instituted.

Digital and specular examinations disclose the condition of the vaginal portion of the cervix. The amount and physical characters of the cervical secretions are items of important diagnostic moment. In suspicious cases of cervical erosion a small bit of tissue may be cut away from the surface and subjected to microscopical examination.

Secondary disturbances in connection with the gastro-intestinal canal and nervous system occur in chronic inflammations of the endometrium, as in the case of chronic uterine infarct.

PROGNOSIS.—Chronic inflammations of the corporeal and cervical mucous membrane seldom threaten life directly. The continuous loss of blood and serum, however, may produce a condition of profound anæmia and render the individual more susceptible to intercurrent disease.

Then the hyperplastic condition of the endometrium is always an occasion for anxiety. The relation between polypoid and fungoid growths of the corporeal mucous membrane, erosions of the vaginal portion of the cervix, and malignant new formations is not settled. The possibility of malignant residua, however, must be admitted.

Sterility, acute and chronic decidual inflammations, adherent placenta, disturbances in the involution of the puerperal uterus, and the like—direct results of chronic endometritic inflammation—are conditions which confer an unfavorable element upon the prognosis.

Finally, while it is possible to effect a material amelioration of all the symptoms by a judicious general and local treatment, a complete restitutio ad integrum is seldom or never achieved. Recidiva are always liable to occur.

TREATMENT.—Prophylaxis.—The remarks made with reference to the prevention of chronic uterine infarct apply with equal force to the prophylaxis of chronic corporeal and cervical endometritis.

Curative.—Of chief importance, in the very large majority of cases, is the subject of general treatment. Many cases of chronic catarrhal endometritis are improved by the regulation of the functions of the gastro-intestinal canal, skin, kidneys, and hæmatopoietic viscera in the absence of all local treatment. This statement holds true with particular force when scrofulosis, tuberculosis, syphilis, and the like are chief etiological factors.

Local Treatment.—The methods of local treatment at the present time are infinitely various. For convenience of description they may be collected under three headings:⁴²

I. The washing out of the uterine cavity;

II. The cauterization of the uterine cavity;

III. The curettement of the uterine mucous membrane.

⁴² H. Fritsch, op. cit., 1885, p. 419.

To Schultze, in particular, are we indebted for methods of washing out the cavity of the uterus. The cervical canal is dilated by means of the finger, tents, or metallic instruments, and the mucous membrane lining the cavity of the uterus is cleansed with dilute solutions of carbolic acid, boric acid, bichloride of mercury, and other solvent and antiseptic fluids.

Cauterization is usually effected at the present time by the application of pure tincture of iodine, iodine with glycerin, or carbolic acid, to the endometrium. Bandl's canulæ for the washing out of the uterine cavity with solutions of alum and cupric sulphate are valuable instruments in this connection. The application of the solid stick of nitrate of silver and intra-uterine injections of liquor ferri are gradually passing into disuse.

The curettement of the diseased endometrium has been rapidly gaining ground within recent years, and now constitutes the most reliable method of treatment in obstinate cases in which local interference is indicated at all. Martin, Düvelius, and other clinicians have abundantly established the fact that, after the mechanical removal of the old diseased mucous membrane, a new endometrium of relatively normal functional activity is formed.

The number of operative procedures for the relief of chronic endocervicitis is enormous. In the majority of cases occurring among multiparæ it will be found that the condition is aggravated, if not caused, by cervical laceration with ectropium. Under these circumstances, and under the indications and conditions insisted upon by the author of the procedure, Emmet's operation will alleviate, if it does not cure, the pathological state of the mucous membrane.

ABORTION.

BY GEORGE J. ENGELMANN, M.D.

DEFINITION.—Abortion, the mishap of popular parlance, the fausse couche of the French, is the premature interruption of intra-uterine pregnancy, the expulsion of the non-viable ovum, whether the result of natural causes or criminal interference.

SYNONYMS.—Common as the accident unfortunately is, the nomenclature, both popular and scientific, is somewhat indistinct, the terms abortion and miscarriage being used in a variety of ways, so that the physician is liable to be misunderstood by his professional brethren and in danger of causing serious offence to his patients. A strict definition of the terms is hence of importance, and in order not to add to the confusion we can do no better than adopt the one now adhered to by the authorities of the day. Abortion and miscarriage are strictly synonymous, notwithstanding the popular belief that the term abortion is restricted to the criminal interruption of pregnancy, whilst miscarriage is supposed to designate the accident resulting from natural causes. Again, some make a difference in time between abortion and miscarriage—abortion being the expulsion of the ovum in the first four months of pregnancy; miscarriage, or the partus immaturus, in the next three months, from the fourth to the seventh; and the partus prematurus from the seventh to the ninth month.

CLASSIFICATION.—We might, indeed, in regard to importance, cause, and course of expulsion, designate four different periods of gestation—the first two during the continuance of the chorion frondosum, and the last two during the period of placental development: the first during the first two months of pregnancy, before sufficient adhesions have formed; the second, still during the period of the chorion frondosum, until it begins to disappear, from the second to the fourth month; the third, in the early stages of placental development, before the term of foetal viability, from the fourth to the seventh month; and the fourth, which is everywhere recognized as the partus prematurus—premature delivery—from the seventh to the ninth month, when the placenta is fully developed with firm adhesions and the child viable.

For practical reasons and simplicity's sake we will distinguish only between abortion and premature labor—miscarriage, abortion, abortus, being the expulsion of a non-viable foetus, of the ovum before the time of complete placental development, in the first seven months of pregnancy; and premature labor, the interruption of pregnancy in the last two months, from the seventh to the ninth, when the foetus is viable and formation and attachment of the placenta has been completed. These two classes naturally blend, but are strikingly different in cause, symptoms, and treatment if we consider the type about which they are grouped—abortion proper as most frequent in the third and fourth month, and premature labor in the seventh and eighth. It is abortion or miscarriage of which we shall treat in this article, more especially its characteristic form before the formation of the placenta, whilst we shall touch but lightly upon those forms which approximate premature labor and come within the sphere of the obstetrician; that is, abortion in the sixth or seventh month, when the placenta is more fully developed.

FREQUENCY.—With regard to the frequency with which this accident occurs, we can but form an estimate, as there are but few of the pathological conditions to which the human constitution is subject in regard to which we are more at fault as to statistics: neither the case-book of the physician nor the hospital or post-mortem record permits of more than an indefinite approximation as to the frequency of its occurrence. During the first six or eight weeks of gestation, certainly the first four, the patient herself is often ignorant of her condition, and the ovum passes off amid a more profuse menstruation, with only the symptoms of simple menorrhagia; the same may be true at later periods by reason of coexisting conditions. Some knowingly conceal the fact; many, knowing it, call no assistance; others have midwives, the physician seeing only the more threatening cases; and but few enter the hospital, where our most reliable statistics are gathered.

All points considered, it has been stated that to every 5.5 labors at term we will find 1 case of premature expulsion of the ovum (Busch and Moser). Whitehead asserts that 90 per cent. of married women abort, or that 37 out of 100, somewhat over one-third, of all mothers abort at least once before their thirtieth year. Hegar estimates 1 abortion in the early months to 8 or 10 labors at term, which harmonizes very well with the figures given by Busch and Moser. Multigravidæ abort more often than primigravidæ, although there are certain causes peculiar to primigravidæ which tend to abortion, such as the indiscretions of early married life: uterine disease, perimetritis, and endometritis, on the other hand, are more common in multigravidæ, and, again, the number of multigravidæ is by far greater than that of primigravidæ.

These estimates are all somewhat general, but even if exact statistics could be gathered as to any one locality, they would not hold good in others—true of one region, they would not be so of another. Climate, habits of life, and morals of the community very greatly affect the completion and interruption of pregnancy.

IMPORTANCE.—Frequent as the occurrence of abortion is—common almost as childbirth—its importance is universally underrated. Many of the ills to which women are subject result directly or indirectly from this accident, or, we may justly say, from an undervaluation of its importance. If not criminal or traumatic, it is the result of pathological changes either in the maternal system, in the sexual organs, or in the ovum itself; labor is brought about amid these conditions at a time when neither ovum nor uterus is properly prepared, as in labor at term, and under these conditions, especially in a diseased system or diseased uterus, involution will not so readily take place. Morbid conditions of the sexual organs follow, and affect the health of the patient more or less, though death but rarely results, either directly or indirectly. These evils are more commonly the consequence of mismanaged abortion and neglected after-treatment than of the accident itself; hence the result depends rather upon a thorough appreciation of the importance of this condition by both patient and physician, especially the general practitioner, the family physician; if assistance is sought, it is he who is called, and not the specialist—not the gynecologist or the obstetrician. It is the physician conversant with the family secrets whose aid is sought in this matter, which is considered by the mother rather as a delicate and disagreeable than an important affair.

Women should be given to understand more thoroughly the serious results which so often follow neglected abortion or abortions which, for the very reason of their being rapid and favorable in their course, are neglected as to after-treatment. Women must be impressed with the necessity of proper attention during the progress of miscarriage from its very initiation, and the even greater care that is necessary after the ovum is expelled and all is supposed to be over, and involution of the uterus at this period must be guided and guarded as after expulsion at term.

Much suffering would be avoided if women were taught to consider abortion as a disease, a pathological condition, demanding immediate and active attention, and not simply as a disagreeable and disgraceful accident, to be concealed if possible. The patient would then no longer endeavor to worry through without assistance or call in nurse or midwife; and, thoroughly knowing the possible dangers, they would be more cautious, and the frequency of criminal abortions would also decrease: these, above all, cause injury to health, because medical attendance is avoided if at all possible, and care likewise, as the patient is anxious to conceal her indisposition. Then also the practitioner must bear in mind the great importance of this accident, both that he may anticipate and prevent it, and if inaugurated he may guide it to a rapid and successful termination and guard his patient throughout the period of involution. Great temporary pain, and often lifelong suffering, will thus be prevented.

A thorough knowledge of abortion, of its causes, course, and treatment, is equally necessary to the physician, that he may guard his own honor and that of the profession: an abortion, due to uterine disease or malnutrition of the ovum, occurring during some period of medical attendance is often blamed upon the physician by those anxious for offspring, whilst, on the other hand, that large and shrewd class who are seeking to avoid childbirth not infrequently resort to the trick of urging certain methods of treatment during early pregnancy, with the hope that the physician himself may thus induce abortion, or he is called, with all appearance of innocence, by the criminal who has interrupted gestation to complete the abortion once commenced. His own reputation and that of his profession is then at stake: to guard this and to preserve the health of the mother entrusted to his care he must be conversant with the pathological conditions involved and the importance which attaches to them.

Woman requires skilled aid in labor, the physiological termination of pregnancy; more necessary still is this in the premature pathological interruption of this condition, in abortion! The attendant is often responsible for two lives, as in labor, although under the conditions usually existing medical aid is not summoned until the life of the embryo is already destroyed—a most urgent argument in favor of timely medical advice and of close attention to prevention, a proper management of the pregnant state, and the treatment of threatening abortion, as at this time both lives may still be saved. This accident, so frequent in its occurrence, so disastrous to the health of woman, is important in all its phases, not only in the stage of expulsion and retention, to which attention has been directed on account of the surgical interest, but as well in its incipience, the time of prevention, and its after-treatment; abortion demands, and is worthy of, the most careful study and the best efforts of the physician.

HISTORY.—The history of abortion, it has often been stated, is the history of civilization, but I would rather say that it is the history of races—of their rise and fall. Abortion in consequence of natural causes, as well as criminal, is now, and has at all times been, practised among savage as well as civilized peoples, and develops with the progress of civilization, with the deterioration and fall of races, civilized and savage, as shown by history ancient and modern.

Abortion consequent upon natural causes is by far less frequent among a vigorous and healthy people still struggling for supremacy, full of youth and strength, than among nations who have reached the height of power, who have been enfeebled by indolence and the luxuries of civilization, by vice and fashion. Of criminal abortion this is naturally true to a far greater extent, yet this is common and customary among many primitive, semi-civilized peoples. As nations advance they become debilitated and demoralized amid the brilliancy and luxuriousness of their surroundings, and they rapidly retrograde toward the very worst vices of primitive humanity: they are thus undermined, and succumb to the attacks of their more vigorous neighbors, and magnificent empires are overthrown and extinguished by the youthful vigor of a hardy, simple people. The more civilization progresses, the greater the apparent abhorrence of the crime of abortion, the more numerous the laws enacted to guard against it, the more frequent does the crime become; and, strange though it may seem, it is nowhere punished. Abortionists everywhere are known; in the larger cities of this continent as well as Europe they achieve a widespread fame, are well known, and yet rarely if ever convicted. It is a notorious fact in our community that these worst of criminals almost invariably escape, and even in the states of Germany, where the laws are strict and rigidly enforced, where the crime of abortion is punished by imprisonment of from five to twenty years, that eminent teacher of medical jurisprudence, J. L. Casper, says that "Of all the many accused, never a one was condemned, and in no one case was the crime proven." They are sheltered by the words of the law and the sympathy of the community, which, notwithstanding the abhorrence expressed, still accompanies these criminals, though not to so great an extent as it does those equally forlorn women who are guilty of killing the child when born; for, as Hodge truly says, "There is no class of criminals who meet with so much sympathy as women guilty of foeticide." Greece and Rome when at the height of their power favored by their laws, and almost openly advocated, abortion, whilst among the ancient Germans it was one of the crimes most deeply despised and most severely punished—just as it was condemned by the laws of the Goths. How different is it now among the races sprung from these proud conquerors of Rome, now that they have reached the very acme of their career! The more civilized, the more powerful they become, the more does this crime develop, as in Germany and France, where it is practised upon a most extensive scale, and yet, as we have seen, the criminals escape, notwithstanding the most rigorous laws. Condemned from the bench and the pulpit, the crime still progresses. There is the poor girl who has yielded her honor for the sake of bread for herself or those dependent upon her; there is the lady of fashion, by far more culpable, who cannot give up the time she owes to society to the cares of maternity; or the society belle, who would resort to any and every measure that she may escape maternity for the sake of retaining her beauty and the freshness of her charms, a slender waist and a well-shaped breast; others resort to it that their round of pleasure may not be disturbed. Many an unborn child is executed upon the plea of limited resources, that the family cannot continue to live in their accustomed luxury if an additional member should appear.

Neither the laws of God nor man will affect the hearts of women thus brutalized: it is the physician alone who can interfere; it is to him they come most often; it is he, the trusted family friend, who will do more than judge or priest to change this unfortunate condition of affairs. In crowded countries abortion is looked upon as a necessity of nations, just as it is here considered a necessity in a family too numerous; hence in China, Japan, and Hindostan it is common; in Arabia and in New Caledonia it is produced on account of the scarcity of nourishment and the difficulty of raising children. Among some crude people it is not the wish of the individual, but the law of the land, which determines the course of gestation; so upon the island of Formosa a woman is not allowed to bear a child before her thirty-sixth year, and priestesses fulfil a social law by kicking the belly of the woman who becomes pregnant before the proper age, lest the population grow too large for the resources of the island. So it is among other islanders also—upon the Sandwich Islands, the South Sea Islands, whose population was reduced from two hundred thousand to seven or eight thousand in the course of thirty years. Upon Tahiti and King's Mills Islands it is equally common. Upon the latter a more generous feeling prevails, and the woman is at least allowed to have a family of three, but not beyond that; and upon the Feejee Islands one of every two conceptions is supposed to be destroyed before the period of gestation is completed.¹ So also among the New Zealanders, the Hottentots, and the inhabitants of Madagascar. By the Icelanders this crime is committed as an heirloom left by their Norwegian ancestors.

¹ Trader, Criminal Abortion.

Not alone upon the islands, but among the inhabitants of states not overcrowded like China and Japan, abortion is legalized; so in Paraguay and La Plata, where it is caused in every family after the birth of two living children. Some of the African negroes produce abortion on account of limitation of resources; among the Buddhists, otherwise so humane in their laws, it is frequent—a wonderful disharmony between the conduct of individuals and the dictates of their political and religious laws.

Wherever celibacy is demanded crime and abortion result, as among the Buddhists, whose laws condemn large numbers of vigorous subjects to this existence; and in our own civilization we see the same inevitable result in many of the most closely-populated Catholic countries. Thus abortion is frequent among the Anamites and among the Kambysians, who marry late and are frequently obliged to produce abortion before the time of marriage. Among the Brahmans it is a common practice, induced by religious and political arrangements, the direct result of a law which encourages sexual excesses, and frequently of the restrictions placed upon the needs of woman (widows are condemned by law to eternal celibacy); yet this terrible crime is looked upon as most harmless by the people of India, the destruction of a child that has not seen day being, according to their view, less of an evil than the dishonor of a woman. In Turkey it is so common that a certain price is paid for abortion and another for infanticide, and the law is indulgent to the crime, as it can be paid for cheaply. The cost of removing a non-viable foetus, or even an embryo, is equivalent to a tenth of the price paid for the murder of an infant.

The methods by which expulsion is accomplished are everywhere the same among people civilized and savage, ancient and modern—local and general. Among the local measures external violence is the most simple, as among the Tasmanians, who practise abortion by striking the belly, just as it is done by the priestesses of Formosa; and this is quite common in our day and in our communities. The introduction of instruments and implements into the womb is more intricate, but likewise common; the knitting-needle is a favorite resort in our country, and among primitive peoples a similar practice is resorted to; thus some of the negroes of Africa introduce the sprouting stem of a plant into the uterine cavity. Venesection, the drawing of blood from the vulva, anus, and foot, was often resorted to for the purpose of producing abortion.

Among the more common remedies used in former times are emetics, which are still very often resorted to, cantharides, emmenagogues, sabin, snakeroot, and the famous pennyroyal; so also ergot; the compound cathartic pill of the United States Pharmacopoeia is a favorite remedy,—all of which maim or kill the patient as often as they produce abortion. In New Caledonia a decoction of red-bud and banana-peel or green fruit is taken boiling: in China aperient medicines are publicly advertised for sale, and aphrodisiacs under the name of remedies to free the stomach and give back virginity. Certain negro tribes bring on abortion by manipulation of the abdomen and the use of purgative substances, such as the bark of the koche and sonnaly, which are also used to facilitate labor. Pen-tsae enumerates a large number of remedies as accelerators of abortion or purgatives according to the dose; many of them have a very doubtful action, however. The natives of India most commonly use the black annin, vulgarly called black anise or fourspice; fifteen grammes is an emmenagogue and larger doses produce abortion. The Arab women seek to produce sterility and escape the annoyance of numerous pregnancies, and imagine that they can arrive at that end by drinking a solution of sal soda, a decoction of peach-leaves, and the sap of the male fig tree.

Among peoples savage and civilized, for good reasons and bad, villains sufficient are found to do the bidding of thoughtless and misguided women; the remedies used, internal and external, local and general, are very often so violent as to be followed by the death of the victim. The plea of limited resources, of the inability of supporting a large family, is one common to people of all races in all stages of civilization: permitted by the unwritten law among some, it is practised with equal frequency by others, though strictly condemned. As we have stated, among many of the American nations it is legalized.

Again, there have been people at all times who have scorned the crime, but this is only among those pure, primitive, and still-developing peoples, as, for instance, the ancient Goths and Germans; and the Noxes of South America, as well as some of the negroes of Africa, even permit the husband without hesitation to kill his wife if she should abort. It is among those of the primitive peoples where the blessing of offspring is held in high esteem that the crime of abortion is most condemned and most rare. With the progress of civilization and religion, of refinement and knowledge, this crime, strange as it may seem, rapidly develops. It is not among the low and ignorant—it is among the educated and refined, among the wealthy—that it is most common; and the plea given in excuse of this crime is one most especially urged by the educated and refined, by the devout Christian, that the embryo is not an animated being, not an individual existence—that it does not attain the dignity of a living being until the time of quickening, until the middle of pregnancy. Religious and scientific reasoning is brought to bear in support of this theory in excuse of the many refined criminals; and it is this very point which the physician must urge: that the ovum, the embryo, from the moment of conception is an animated being, an individual existence with a life of its own. Important as the treatment of abortion, in consequence of natural causes, is, its prevention, and, above all, the prevention of criminal abortion, is still more so; and it is this which lies in the hands of the physician, whose most forcible argument must be in the evident and glaring crime which is committed by the destruction of a living being, as is the embryo from the moment of conception, not to forget the injury resulting to the mother. The former appeals to the moral, the latter to the physical, elements of womanly nature.

Whilst abortion, in consequence of natural causes, is a condition more dangerous than labor at term, the interruption of pregnancy by forcible means—criminal abortion—must necessarily be more grave in its consequences. The interference is often a violent one; the aborting woman is in mental distress, unable to seek the necessary comfort or attention; she is oppressed by the crime in her inner conscience; under unfavorable conditions, physical and mental, for the suffering which is most likely to follow.

With the progress in the practice of medical science the art of the abortionist keeps pace, and in civilized communities of to-day one cause of this growing frequency is in the increased numbers and the increased skill of practitioners ready to pander to all the whims of their degenerated customers: but the greater should be the efforts of honorable physicians to dispel the false illusions by which women seem to justify their doings, and to erase this darkest of all thoughts that lurks amid the noblest sentiments in woman's mind. A strong effort was made not long ago by the American Medical Association to urge the importance of this matter upon the profession, resulting from the earnest efforts of that honored obstetrician Hugh L. Hodge, which culminated in a report of the Committee on Criminal Abortion, read before the American Medical Association in 1871, and a number of papers written upon the subject at that time, prominent among which I would mention those of Van de Warker, Tabor Johnson, and John W. Trader. The wave has swept by: what has been accomplished may be gleaned from the police records of our cities.

PHYSIOLOGY OF EARLY PREGNANCY.—For an understanding of the pathological conditions which determine, precede, and accompany this accident a knowledge of the physiological state is as important as normal anatomy is to the pathologist. But as this subject is treated of in full in other articles, we will confine ourselves to a few of the leading features which are most important for purposes of diagnosis and treatment.

The changes, local and general, resulting from the physiological state of pregnancy are extremely variable, often approximating or simulating pathological conditions, so that we must differentiate and discriminate between such as pertain to the normal condition and such as indicate pathological changes and threatening danger. This is necessary, as prevention is, above all, important, it being often possible thus to save two lives with by far less danger and suffering to the mother than is to be expected from the treatment of abortion once inaugurated after the time of possible prevention has passed. Moreover, a correct post-abortum diagnosis is important for the future welfare of the patient, if not from a medico-legal point of view; and this is equally impossible without a knowledge of the physiological condition. This will enable us to determine whether the ovum expelled is healthy or not—whether the causes are traumatic or criminal, or whether the abortion is due to pathological changes; which, again, must guide us in treatment.

Abortion is the expulsion of an ovum the product of a conception, and can only occur during the period of menstrual life, as conception, the impregnation of the female ovule by the male semen, is the consequence of fruitful intercourse, liable to take place at any time during the period of womanhood, the thirty years of female menstrual life from puberty—the appearance of the catamenia—to the time of their cessation. Its occurrence is followed by intense physiological activity of the maternal organism, lasting throughout gestation to the time of its natural termination with the expulsion of the fully-developed ovum at term at the end of the tenth lunar month. This is made evident by striking changes in the entire system, but especially in the sexual organs, which in the earlier period of pregnancy are entirely progressive, developmental, whilst in the later months, toward term, the character is changed to that of a retrograde metamorphosis, preparatory to the separation and expulsion of the ovum and final restitution of the organs. This hyper-activity inaugurated by impregnation becomes evident by marked changes in the system of the mother, in the sexual organs, and in the ovum itself.

Changes in the Maternal System.—These are most peculiar and varied, differing in repeated pregnancies in the same patient, sometimes entirely absent, at others most distressing, even fatal; sometimes appearing at one period, sometimes at another. Healthy, robust women may suffer throughout the entire period of gestation, whilst those at other times ailing are well only in this condition. The most marked of these symptoms are the hystero-neuroses, disturbances of the entire nervous system, central and peripheral; mental depression, more rarely excitement; gastric disturbances, nausea and vomiting; increased activity, renal and pulmonary, consequent upon changes in the circulation; discoloration of the skin upon the forehead, the linea alba, and areola; oedema and varicosities of the veins upon the lower extremities. All these, and many others still more erratic, may accompany the normal physiological condition.

Changes in the Uterus and Pelvic Viscera.—Whilst the ovum develops in the uterus, this organ, its appendages, and the viscera surrounding it, enclosed together within the pelvic cavity, undergo the most marked changes. The early months of pregnancy are those of greatest physiological activity in the uterine muscle, the period of its hypertrophy. This is inaugurated from the very moment of conception, at first increasing, then gradually lessening, until within the last months, when it becomes passive, the rapidly-growing ovum merely distending the hypertrophied uterus, apparently increasing in size, but merely distended by its contents, as a rubber bag would be. In the earlier months the growth of the uterus is entirely due to muscular development—after the fifth month to distension. The individual muscular cells attain enormous growth, and a large number of pre-existing embryonic cells are developed; so also in the interlacing connective tissue. The blood-vessels as well as the lymphatics increase in size and length; the arteries become tortuous; the capillary circulation is to a great extent supplanted by sinuses.

Weighing in its normal condition, when at rest, little above an ounce, the uterus attains within the first four or five months a weight almost fifteen times greater. Remaining the first four months within the pelvic cavity, the increase in size is not of that diagnostic importance which it attains in the later months, when it is to be felt beneath the abdominal walls, though at the end of this period it is distinctly perceived above the symphysis; about the fifth month, between navel and symphysis; and at the sixth month, at the height of the navel. At the end of the third month the uterus is some 4½ to 5 inches in length, by 4 in breadth and 3 in thickness; at the end of the fourth month, 5½ to 6 inches in length, by 5 in breadth and 4 in thickness; at the end of the fifth month, 6 to 7 inches in length, 5½ in breadth, and 5 in thickness; at the end of the sixth month it is some 8 to 9 inches in length.

The changes which take place in the cervix are a merely passive accompaniment of the uterine hypertrophy, it being enlarged more especially by reason of the succulence of its tissues consequent upon the congestion and activity of the body. It is somewhat enlarged in all its dimensions, thickened, and elongated, soft, velvety to the touch, appearing, however, somewhat shortened by reason of the hypertrophy of the vaginal attachment—a condition that approximates rather that of the vagina and external sexual organs than that of the uterus, softened, succulent, somewhat hypertrophied, congested, of a deeper bluish-red wine color, its cavity occluded by thick tenacious mucus, as the secretions of the mucous membrane of the vagina and external sexual organs are also augmented. In the first and second months the uterus is retroverted, the cervix seems to descend as the enlarged organ, by reason of its weight, settles in the pelvis, the fundus sinking down in the hollow of the sacrum, the cervix consequently pointing more forward; as the organ increases in size and rises above the brim in its endeavor to escape the confining space of the pelvic cavity, the enlarged fundus, meeting with the resistance of the promontory, seeks the point of least resistance, and the uterus begins to assume that position of anteversion which continues to become more marked as pregnancy progresses: the cervix points backward into the hollow of the sacrum, and rises gradually (as the fundus increases in size and withdraws from the pelvic cavity).

The Uterine Mucosa.—This structure is as interesting as it is important. The wonderful changes which it undergoes go hand in hand with the various changes and stages of female life: it is the nidus for the reception of the impregnated ovum; it serves to shelter and nourish the delicate ovum, and if diseased, affording insufficient nutrition, leads to the death and expulsion of the embryo. Its shreds when expelled are of diagnostic importance, and in early abortions its massive thick tissues, changed by disease, often cause greater trouble than the ovum itself, forming, alone or with the membranes proper of the ovum, what is so commonly but erroneously called the placenta in abortion. The membrane which lines the cavity proper of the uterus, passing at the internal os into the mucous membrane of the cervical canal, is characterized by the absence of even the slightest trace of submucous or areolar tissue—by its peculiar substratum of connective tissue abounding in cells and tubular glands. It is closely and inseparably attached to the muscular coat. In a state of rest it is a little over 0.04 inch in thickness at the fundus,² and the anterior and posterior walls diminishing toward the sides, the cervical and tuber ostea. It is traversed by a series of tubular glands, wavy in their upper part, bifurcated toward their base, running more or less parallel to each other. In this membrane, so important for the preservation and development of the ovum, the physiological activity of the system is inaugurated, and seems to centre during the first week of gestation. With the impregnation of the ovule the uterine mucosa, its earliest shelter, begins to hypertrophy: the rapid development which now takes place is owing to the proliferation of the cells of the stroma and the enlargement of the individual cells of all kinds, including those of the glands themselves, as well as the increase of the succulent homogeneous and cellular substance. The glands throughout their greatest extent are enlarged: the increase in thickness is more especially due to the hypertrophy of the superficial layer, the upper half, in which the stroma appears less compact, growing far above the original gland-openings, circumvallating the enlarged ostea, and thus causing those funnel-shaped depressions which give the membrane its sieve-like, cribriform appearance when seen from above. In the third month of pregnancy the mucous membrane attains its greatest thickness, forming a soft succulent lining to the uterine cavity, by its distension closing the various ostea. It is then as much as 0.236 inch in thickness in the anterior and posterior walls, lessening toward the ostea, and begins to present the characteristic layers which become so distinct in the later months—a dense upper and a very loose lower one, comparable to a lax meshwork. Its growth now ceases, and as the uterine cavity increases in size and the ovum in growth, it is distended to cover the rapidly-expanding surface, and becomes thinner and thinner, the upper dense layer remaining as such, whilst the glandular sinuses of the lower layer of the membrane are stretched transversely until they become mere flat meshes like a network stretched along the surface of the womb.

² Engelmann Mucous Membranes of the Uterus.

The impregnated ovum, as it rapidly enlarges during the first two or three weeks, becomes imbedded in the thickened succulent decidua; and we may compare this to the sinking of a bullet into soft dough: the soft mass of the dough yields to the weight of the superimposed body, and gradually closes over it, so the tissue of these overlapping folds soon unites, completely surrounding the ovum, the nidus thus formed, in which the ovum settles, being usually in the upper portion of the fundus upon the posterior wall of the right side. We now distinguish in the mucous membrane of the uterus three parts: the decidua vera, the greater part of the membrane lining the cavity of the womb where it is not in contact with the ovum; the decidua serotina, which is that part directly beneath the ovum, between it and the uterine wall, which is in connection with the tufts of the chorion, later in part develops to form the placenta; and the decidua reflexa, that part of the mucosa which overlaps and has overgrown the ovum. This membrane is little known and rarely recognized, though always present. It is of no practical importance; a delicate membrane even at the time when it is the great safeguard of the tender ovum, serving to protect it and hold it within the soft bed formed by the decidua serotina; this function of the reflexa continues until the third month, when the ovum has developed sufficiently to occupy the entire uterine cavity and is everywhere in contact with its walls. The thin tissues of the reflexa become more transparent and delicate as they are distended and compressed between ovum and decidua vera, which now with the muscular wall of the uterus surround the ovum and continue the previous function of the reflexa.

The Development of the Ovum.—Practically, we may distinguish two periods in the development of the ovum: the first, that in which we are here interested, before the development of the placenta, where it is a cyst-like body surrounded by the shaggy chorion, the chorion velosum; and after the development of the placenta, after the fourth or fifth month, when the foetus is more fully developed and the ovum is covered with the smooth chorion, the chorion levæ.

The period scientifically the first, and the most interesting stage of development, during the first three or four weeks, when segmentation takes place and the form is moulded, we shall in no way consider. The ovum may then be cast off, perhaps at a succeeding monthly period, unbeknown to any one, perhaps not even to the unconscious mother: certainly the services of an accoucheur are not called for. In the third or fourth week it is a delicate cyst-like body of the size of a hazel-nut, some half an inch in diameter, surrounded by its translucent chorion, and is crushed in the passages or disappears amid the clots of blood of an apparently profuse menstrual flow. The following periods of development are, however, of practical importance, as they will serve diagnostic purposes, as well as an understanding of the appearance of the ovum and the symptoms accompanying miscarriage.

The ovum during the first months of pregnancy is an oval cyst-like body surrounded by the chorion, the shaggy tufts of which give it a characteristic readily-recognized appearance. Enclosed within is the delicate transparent amnion, and the embryo, attached to the navel-string, floating in the clear liquor. At six weeks the size of the ovum is likened to that of a pigeon's egg; at eight or nine weeks to that of a hen's egg, perhaps 1½ inches in length; at the twelfth week, to that of a goose-egg, some 4 inches in length. In the second month the ovum forms a bulging prominence in the uterine cavity, usually toward the fundus, and reveals all the parts recognized at term with the exception of the placenta and the still distinct umbilical vesicle: its surface is covered by the tufts of the chorion and surrounded by the decidua reflexa. In the third month it is so far developed as to completely occupy the uterine cavity, as yet but slightly adherent, approximated, a part of it agglutinated to the uterine mucosa, to the decidua serotina, the greater mass of the chorion being in no way adherent to the surrounding reflexa. The tufts of the chorion begin to sprout and develop more fully at its point of contact with the uterine wall above the decidua serotina, whilst upon the remaining and greater portion of its surface their growth ceases, and as the membrane distends the delicate filaments gradually disappear. At the end of the third month, in the fourth month, the tufts of the chorion have sufficiently developed in its adherent portion to form the rudimentary placenta, and at the end of the fourth month this is developed still more—has become more dense and large, whilst the remaining portion of the membrane appears smooth and barely shows a few scanty remnants of the once-shaggy tufts.

The growth of the ovum now rapidly outstrips that of the uterine cavity; the membranes are pressed more firmly against its walls, approximated to the decidua vera, but not by any means agglutinated. In the sixth month the placenta has been thoroughly formed—it has become dense and large, the foetal membranes beginning to agglutinate to the uterine wall, and the conditions existing at term are rapidly approached. The embryonic tissues are supplied with the necessary nutriment by endosmosis from the surrounding maternal structures during the first months; the entire surface of the chorion absorbs, whilst this function is delegated to the proliferating villi as they develop and agglutinate with the decidua serotina, foreshadowing the activity of the placenta by which the foetus is nourished to term.

Practically, the most important period in the development of the ovum is the one most dangerous to its existence—in the third and fourth month, that period of intense activity of chorion and decidua, the time of the formation of the placenta, when hemorrhage is likely to occur from the congestion of the vessels so necessary to the nutrition of the rapidly-growing and delicate tissues. Nutriment is no longer merely absorbed by the succulent embryonic cells of the ovum from the tissue in which they are in contact, but the embryo is forced to seek sustenance through those now fully-developed tufts of the chorion—from the proper site, the decidua serotina and the surrounding vessels—directly from the uterine structures. If hemorrhage interferes or disease prevails, the healthy growth of the ovum is checked, and a morbid development ensues, to result sooner or later in death of the embryo and expulsion.

The embryo in the early months of pregnancy is small as compared to the size of the sac, the membranes, liquor amnii, and navel-string; at the end of the fourth week the embryo measures from ¹/3 to ¼ of an inch in length; at the end of the eighth week, from ¾ to 1 inch: the arms and legs become visible, the umbilical vesicle, though reduced in size, still exists; the small body with large upper extremity is pendent from the short, thick navel-string. At the end of the twelfth week the embryo measures from 2 to 3 inches in length; fingers and toes can be distinctly seen; mouth and nose are also recognizable. At the end of the sixteenth week, the fourth month, the embryo measures some 4 to 5 inches in length; sex can be distinguished; the head assumes shape, but it is still immense in size, perhaps an inch in length; the features of the face are all formed. At the end of the twentieth week, the fifth month, there is no longer doubt as to sex; the nails, which were previously visible, have become distinct; the soft, woolly lanugo begins to develop; hair may be noticed upon the head; motion, inaugurated weeks before, is felt by the mother. Toward the end of the sixth month, in the twenty-fourth week, the embryo is some 12 inches in length. As has been before stated, with the cessation of the development of individual organs and parts growth in size becomes more rapid. As this was less in the earlier months, it is now very marked. With the seventh month, as the foetus becomes viable, it is some 12 to 14 inches in length, weighing 2 to 3 pounds; the body is covered with lanugo; the hair on the head becomes quite marked; the papular membrane disappears.

It is well to bear in mind the leading features in the development of the uterus, decidua, and the ovum, and more particularly its membranes, as a guide in the treatment, that we may recognize the parts expelled and know what remains to be removed—as an aid in diagnosis, that we may properly judge the conditions, whether healthy or morbid, and post-abortum, when we may be forced to determine by the corpus delicti, as the all-important evidence in criminal cases, as to the duration of pregnancy and the causes which led to its termination.

ETIOLOGY.—Causes of Abortion.—Interesting as the etiology of disease is to the inquiring mind, to the progressive physician it is of great practical importance as well; and this is eminently true of the causes leading to abortion. More so of (A) spontaneous or accidental abortion, though by no means to be neglected in (B) criminal abortion. Etiology is important in both, as it is a knowledge of cause alone which can lead to prevention, that most valuable of all methods of treatment, and in criminal abortion to detection, thus indirectly to the prevention of recurrence.

A. Accidental or Spontaneous Abortion, or Abortion as the Result of Natural Causes.—The etiology of non-criminal abortion is indispensable to the practitioner, as it is this alone which will enable him to prevent its occurrence and recurrence, thus leading to the preservation of the lives of mother and child, doing away with the danger and suffering of actual treatment, and frequently serving as a guide in the latter. We will meet with some difficulties in our endeavor to analyze these causes, as they are so varied in their nature and differ so greatly in the medium through which they act. There are causes predisposing and exciting, local and general, internal and external, and causes which depend upon father, mother, and ovum. The direct dependence of treatment upon the exciting causes seems to necessitate a simple and practical delineation of the etiology of abortion. A direct reference of the cause to the offending organ is understood most readily, and will point most directly to the necessary measure of relief; hence we will consider such causes as spring from or act through mother and child—more properly, the maternal system and its individual organs on the one hand, and the ovum and its parts upon the other. We cannot, however, pass by these without giving a thought to such causes to which great importance is attached by many, and which it is best to consider separately.

Predisposing Causes.—Almost all abnormal conditions, whether pertaining to the system or external to it, are more or less predisposing causes, whilst direct exciting causes are few; they may or may not be followed by the premature interruption of gestation; they tend to death and expulsion of the ovum, making it likely to occur whenever the exciting cause arises. We may say all those by which the occurrence of abortion is favored are predisposing causes: they are conditions under which we may expect its occurrence; and, knowing them, it is the duty of the physician to guard his patient. The classification is indefinite. Thus Naegele considers as predisposing causes anæmia, congestion local and general of the maternal system, neurotic influences; and as exciting causes—1st, those which tend to sever the amnion from the surrounding uterine structures; 2d, those which cause malnutrition, disease, and death of the embryo or foetus; 3d, those which directly arouse uterine contraction. Others consider diseases acute and chronic on the part of the mother, local and general, as well as diseases on the part of the father, predisposing causes, whilst traumatism and neurotic influences are considered as exciting causes. All are classifications based upon no strict foundation. I wish, however, to call attention to certain conditions which I look upon as predisposing to abortion: that is, a pregnant woman while under the influence of such condition, such cause, is more liable to abort upon the occurrence of some directly exciting cause. The existence of one or more predisposing causes does not necessitate abortion; pregnancy may continue without interruption if exposed to any of the conditions which we will term as exciting causes.

First. Climate.—We find abortion, both accidental and criminal, prevalent in certain countries and in certain districts, dependent upon climate—in the deltas and valleys subject to malaria, upon barren soil where food is wanting or where the work of woman is particularly laborious.

Secondly. Number and character of the population: this mishap is most common in large cities, where morals are lax, where the ill-fed poor are crowded into tenement-houses and the rich live in the whirl of social dissipation, or in thickly-settled regions where there is an intermingling of sexes, where women are neglected and ill-fed. I may here add an observation which truly shows the difference of locality. Both Playfair and Philippeaux³ claim that abortion is especially prevalent in the country. This may be true of the rural districts of England, France, and Germany, especially the latter military government, where it is in the country that young, able-bodied women do the hardest and most of the work, as is seen when passing through these regions in harvest-time. In America the very opposite is true, as in the country here abortion is most rare.

³ Annals Gynécologie, 1881.

Third. Certain periods in woman's life eminently predispose to abortion. There are those important epochs in woman's life during which her nervous system undergoes a severe strain wrought by those changes which are all-important to her existence. These are, first, in early married life, when intense hyperæsthesia exists due to changes wrought in the sexual system: the young wife is, moreover, exposed to injurious external influences, certain forms of traumatism; and secondly, toward the approach of the menopause, as the activity of sexual function and the uterine organ diminishes and the nervous system is undergoing those changes with periods of intense neurotic excitement which accompany the menopause. Finally, we may look upon the morbid conditions of the system, all unfavorable changes in the surroundings, as predisposing causes.

Exciting Causes.—We have seen that Naegele considers malnutrition and all causes which lead to separation of the ovum from its surroundings, and even uterine contractions, as exciting causes, whilst Spiegelborg considers hemorrhage so much so that to him the history of hemorrhage during gestation is the history of abortion. As exciting causes I consider uterine contractions and such conditions as directly lead to hemorrhage in the uterine or foetal membranes; but I cannot class either as exciting causes direct and primarily, both being merely sequents dependent upon some more remote cause. The varied importance of predisposing and exciting causes will be best appreciated if we but recollect the ordeals which a healthy woman may undergo—the direct exciting causes which may act upon her—and yet abortion not occur, provided no predisposing causes exist. Thus we have the well-authenticated statement of a pregnant woman being run over, the wheels of a physician's carriage passing directly over the abdomen, and yet abortion not following. I myself know of the attempts of a husband to produce abortion upon a willing wife by beating the abdomen, finally stamping and sitting down upon it, and yet not succeeding. I have the statement of a reliable physician as to the continuation of intra-uterine application of iodine and astringents to the cavity of a uterus supposed to be diseased, which proved to be pregnant, until the fourth month, and yet abortion not following. We know how women with criminal intent produce local injuries, even such as result in death, whilst the ovum remains undisturbed. These are cases in which no predisposing cause existed. On the other hand, the careless washing of the feet in cold water, a single effort at the wash-tub, a rapid drive, fright, a piece of bad news, coitus, the slightest nervous or physical disturbance, may produce abortion where predisposing cause sufficient does exist. We will here classify the exciting causes of abortion, in reference to the consequent treatment and the possibility of prevention, as maternal and foetal, dependent upon, acting by means of, the maternal system and organs or those of the ovum. Those dependent upon the mother are amenable to preventive treatment; not so those dependent upon the ovum.