A System of Midwifery Part 10

(See Mr. Hooper's Case, _Med. Obs. and Inquiries_, vol. v. p. 104.)

Where the pain in the pelvis indicates considerable pressure of the uterus upon the surrounding parts, arising probably from swelling and engorgement with blood, the result of vascular excitement, a smart bleeding will afford great relief; the size and firmness of the tumour are diminished, the soft parts in which it is imbedded are relaxed, the general turgor and sensibility are alleviated, and if the moment of temporary prostration which it has produced be seized upon by the pract.i.tioner, he will find that the reposition of the uterus, which was before nearly impracticable, is now comparatively easy.

Where, however, the circ.u.mstances of the case are so unfavourable, and the fundus so firmly impacted in the hollow of the sacrum as to resist the above-mentioned means, Dr. Hunter proposed, "Whether it would not be advisable, in such a case, to perforate the uterus with a small trocar or any other proper instrument, in order to discharge the liquor amnii, and thereby render the uterus so small and so lax as to admit of reduction."

(_Med. Obs. and Inq._ vol. iv. p. 406.) Dr. Hunter did not live to see this plan carried into execution. In latter years, several cases of otherwise irreducible retroversion have thus been successfully relieved: the remedy, it is true, necessarily brings on premature expulsion of the foetus sooner or later. Under such circ.u.mstances, this result cannot be made a ground of objection. In cases of such severity as to require paracentesis uteri, there can be little or no chance of the foetus being alive; and even if it were, of what avail would this be, when almost certain death is staring the mother in the face, unless relieved by this operation?[56] Puncture of the bladder has also been tried where the urine could not be drawn off.[57]

Cases have now and then been met with where the retroversion of the uterus has continued to an advanced period of pregnancy without producing serious injury to the patient: Dr. Merriman has even recorded some, where the uterus has continued in this state up to the full term. Some of these had been actually published as cases of ventral pregnancy; but for their history he has shown that they evidently were cases of retroversion: the patient had been subject to occasional suppressions of urine and difficulty in pa.s.sing faeces; these symptoms had gradually diminished as pregnancy advanced; the os uteri could not be felt, or, if it were capable of being reached, was found high up behind the p.u.b.es, the head of the child forming a large hard tumour between the r.e.c.t.u.m and v.a.g.i.n.a. The condition of the v.a.g.i.n.a afforded strong evidences of the nature of the complaint: on introducing the finger in the usual direction, it was stopped, as if in a cul-de-sac: but on pa.s.sing it forwards, the v.a.g.i.n.a was found pulled up behind the symphysis pubis. In some of these cases the uterine contractions gradually restored the fundus to its natural position: the os uteri descended from behind the symphysis, and the child was born after long protracted suffering; in others, which have been mistaken for ventral pregnancy, the fundus has inflamed and ulcerated, and the child has been gradually discharged by piecemeal.

CHAPTER VII.

DURATION OF PREGNANCY.

There are few questions of great importance and interest respecting a subject under our daily observation, about which such uncertainty and so much diversity of opinion exists, as the duration of human pregnancy; and yet, as is the case with the diagnosis of pregnancy, upon a correct decision frequently depend happiness, character, legitimacy, and fortune.

In like manner it frequently happens, that the data upon which we have to found our opinion are exceedingly doubtful and obscure; and to increase the difficulties of the investigation still farther, we have not uncommonly to contend with wilful deception and determined concealment.

The duration of pregnancy must ever remain a question of considerable uncertainty so long as the data and modes of calculation vary so exceedingly. "Some persons date from the time at which the monthly period intermits; others begin to calculate from a fortnight after the intermission; some reckon from the day on which the succeeding appearance ought to have become manifest; some are inclined to include in their calculation the entire last period of being regular; and others only date from the day at which they were first sensible of the motions of the infant."[58]

"A good deal of the confusion on this point seems to have arisen from considering forty weeks and nine calendar months as one and the same quant.i.ty of time, whereas, in fact, they differ by from five to eight days. Nine calendar months make 275 days, or if February be included, only 272 or 273 days, that is thirty-nine weeks only instead of forty. Yet we constantly find in books on law, and on medical jurisprudence, the expression "nine months or forty weeks." Another source of confusion has evidently had its origin in the indiscriminate use of lunar and solar months, as the basis of computation in certain writings of authority."[59]

It is owing to this uncertainty that a considerable lat.i.tude has been allowed by the codes of law in different countries for the duration of pregnancy, in order to prevent the risk of deciding where the data are so uncertain.

Experience has shown that the ordinary term of human pregnancy, wherever it has been capable of being determined with any degree of accuracy, is 280 days or forty weeks; and this period seems to have been generally allowed even from the remotest ages. As, however, it is so difficult to fix the precise moment of conception, it has been customary in different countries to allow a certain number of days beyond the usual time; thus the Code Napoleon ordains 300 days as the extreme duration of pregnancy, allowing twenty days over to make up for inaccuracy of reckoning. In Prussia it is 301 days, or three weeks beyond the usual time. In this country the limit of gestation is not so accurately determined by law, and therefore gives rise occasionally to much discrepancy of opinion.

The grand question which this subject involves, is, whether a woman can really go beyond the common period of gestation. A great number of authors have considered that the _partus serotinus_, or over-term pregnancy, is perfectly possible; but by far the majority use such an uncertain mode of reckoning that little confidence can be placed in them.

Two questions here arise, the determining of which will greatly a.s.sist us in forming a correct view of this intricate subject, viz. _first_, what has been the duration of those cases of pregnancy where the moment of conception has been satisfactorily ascertained? _secondly_, what are the causes which determine the period at which labour usually comes on?

The circ.u.mstances under which it happens that we are able to ascertain the precise date of impregnation occur so rarely, that it is nearly impossible to collect any considerable number of such cases. Three have occurred under our own notice, in which there could be little doubt as to the accuracy of the information given, and in each of these the patient went a few days short of the full period. One, a case of rape, was delivered on the 260th day; in the two others, s.e.xual intercourse had only occurred once; in one case she went 264, in the other, 276 days. We could have mentioned several others, but where even the slightest shadow of doubt as to their accuracy has existed, we have rejected them as inconclusive.

The mode of calculating the duration of pregnancy, which is ordinarily adopted, viz. by reckoning from the last appearance of the catamenia, although the chief means which is afforded us for so doing, is nevertheless much too vague and uncertain to ensure a decided result; for although it is a well-known fact, that conception very frequently takes place shortly after a menstrual period, there can be no doubt that it is liable to occur at any part of the catamenial interval, and particularly so shortly before the next appearance: hence, by this mode of reckoning, we are not more justified in expecting labour in nine months time from the last appearance of the catamenia, than at any part of the interval between this and what would have been the next appearance.

Dr. Merriman, who has devoted much attention to this intricate but important subject, says, "When I have been requested to calculate the time at which the accession of labour might be expected, I have been very exact in ascertaining the _last day_ on which any appearance of the catamenia was distinguishable, and having reckoned 40 weeks from this day, a.s.suming that the _two hundred and eightieth_ day from the last period was to be considered as the legitimate day of parturition" (_Synopsis of Difficult Parturition_, p. xxiii. ed. 1838;) and gives a valuable table of "one hundred and fifty mature children, calculated from, but not including, the day on which the catamenia were last distinguishable." Of these,

5 were born in the 37th week, 16 --- in the 38th, 21 --- in the 39th, 46 --- in the 40th, 28 --- in the 41st, 18 --- in the 42nd, 11 --- in the 43rd;

so that about one-third were born three weeks after the 280 days from the last appearance of the catamenia; a circ.u.mstance which is perfectly easy of explanation, from what we have just observed, without the pregnancy having overstepped its usual duration: in other words, it would appear that 28 of these cases had conceived one week, 18 two weeks, and 11 three weeks after the last appearance of the catamenia.

The question therefore of the _partus serotinus_; as far as these data are concerned, remains still undecided: of 10 cases which have occurred under our own immediate notice, where the patients determined the commencement of their pregnancy from other data than the last appearance of the catamenia, a similar variation was observed, viz. that nearly one-third went beyond 280 days, six of these individuals reckoned from their marriage, and four from peculiar sensations connected with s.e.xual intercourse, which convinced them that impregnation had taken place: of these, seven did not go beyond the 280th day, two having been delivered upon that day, and three went beyond it, viz. to the 285th, 288th, and 291st days: the two former reckoned from their respective marriages; the latter, who went 291 days, from her peculiar sensations.

The calculation from the date of marriage is liable to the same objections as that taken from the last appearance of the catamenia; for if it had been solemnized (as is usually the case where it is possible) shortly after a menstrual period, and if conception did not take place until a fortnight or three weeks afterwards, the patient's pregnancy would thus have appeared to have lasted so much longer than the natural term. The case, however, which is stated to have gone 291 days, does not come under this head, for here the pregnancy really appears to have lasted 10 or 11 days beyond the full period, which cannot be accounted for in the way above mentioned: we should not have ventured to quote this, if a similar instance had not been recorded by Dr. Dewees. "The husband of a lady, who was obliged to absent himself many months, in consequence of the embarra.s.sment of his affairs, returned, however, one night clandestinely, and his visit was only known to his wife, her mother, and ourselves. The consequence of this visit was the impregnation of his wife; and she was delivered of a healthy child in 9 months and 13 days after this nocternal visit. The lady was within a week of her menstrual period, which was not interrupted, and which led her to hope she had suffered nothing from her intercourse; but the interruption of the succeeding period gave rise to the suspicion she was not safe, and which was afterwards realized by the birth of a child."[60]

Although it is to be regretted that this case has been calculated in the ordinary vague manner of calendar months, yet it is perfectly evident that the pregnancy was longer than the ordinary duration. We shall, therefore, endeavour to investigate the possibility of over-term pregnancy still more closely by a consideration of the second question, viz. what are the causes which determine the period at which labour usually comes on?

It is now ten years ago since we first surmised that "the reason why labour usually terminates pregnancy at the 40th week is from the recurrence of a menstrual period at a time during pregnancy when the uterus, from its distension and weight of contents, is no longer able to bear that increase of irritability which accompanies these periods without being excited to throw off the ovum."

Under the head of PREMATURE EXPULSION, we shall have occasion to notice the disposition to abortion which the uterus evinces at what, in the unimpregnated state, would have been a menstrual period: for some months after the commencement of pregnancy, a careful observer may distinctly trace the periodical symptoms of uterine excitement coming on at certain intervals, and it may be easily supposed that many causes for abortion act with increased effect at these times. Where the patient has suffered from dysmenorrhoea before pregnancy, these periods continue to be marked with such an increase of uterine irritability as to render them for some time exceedingly dangerous to the safety of the ovum. Even to a late period of gestation, the uterus continues to indicate a slight increase of irritability at these periods, although much more indistinctly; thus, in cases of haemorrhage before labour, especially where it arises from the attachment of the placenta to the os uteri, it is usually observed to come on, and to return, at what in the unimpregnated state would have been a menstrual period. We mention these facts as ill.u.s.trating what we presume are the laws on which the duration of pregnancy depends, and also as being capable of affording a satisfactory explanation of those seeming over-term cases which are occasionally met with.

From this view of the subject it will be evident, that the period of the menstrual interval at which conception takes place, will in great measure influence the duration of the pregnancy afterwards; that where it has occurred immediately after an appearance of the menses, the uterus will have attained such a dilatation and weight of contents by the time the ninth period has arrived, that it will not be able to pa.s.s through this state of catamenial excitement without contraction, or, in other words, labour coming on: hence it is that we find a considerable number of labours fall short of the usual time, so much so that some authors have even considered the natural term of human gestation to be 273 days or 39 weeks: for a somewhat similar reason we can explain why primiparae seldom go quite to the full term of gestation, the uterus being less capable of undergoing the necessary increase of volume in a first pregnancy than it is in succeeding ones.

On the other hand, where impregnation has taken place shortly before a menstrual period, the uterus, especially if the patient has already had several children, will probably not have attained such a volume and development as to prevent its pa.s.sing the ninth period without expelling its contents, but may even go on to the next before this process takes place: it is in this way that we would explain the cases related by Dr.

Dewees and Dr. Montgomery. We are aware that, under such a view of the subject, the duration of time between the catamenial periods of each individual should be taken into account, some women menstruating at very short, and others at very long, intervals; but although this will affect the number of periods during which the pregnancy will last, it will not influence the actual duration of time, as this will more immediately depend upon the size and weight of contents which the uterus has attained.

The valuable facts collected by M. Tessier respecting the variable duration of pregnancy in animals, which have been quoted by some authors in proof of the partus serotinus, are scarcely applicable to this question in the human subject; the absence of menstruation, and the different structure of the uterus, prevent our making any close comparison.

CHAPTER VIII.

PREMATURE EXPULSION OF THE FOETUS.

_Abortion.--Miscarriage.--Premature labour.--Causes.--Symptoms.-- Prophylactic measures.--Effects of repeated abortion.--Treatment._

The uterus does not always carry the ovum to the full term of pregnancy, but expels it prematurely. This expulsion of its contents may occur at different periods, and is characterized accordingly: thus, among most of the Continental authors, it has been divided under three heads; those cases which occur during the first sixteen weeks coming under the head of _abortion_; those which occur between this period and the twenty-eighth week are called _miscarriages_; and when they take place at the latter period, until the full term of utero-gestation, they receive the name of _premature labours_.

It is perhaps useful to distinguish those cases of premature expulsion which occur before from those which occur after the fourth month, inasmuch as they seldom prove dangerous before that time, from the diminutive size of the ovum and from the slight degree of development which the uterine vessels have undergone; whereas, after this period the haemorrhage is more severe, and the general disturbance to the system greater. In other respects it will be more simple to divide premature expulsion of the ovum under two heads only; those cases which happen before the twenty-eighth week, or seventh month, being termed _abortions_, and after this period (as before) _premature labours_. This division is highly important in a practical point of view, since it marks the period before which the child has little chance of being born alive; whereas, after this date it may with care be reared.[61] A foetus may be expelled, at a very early stage of pregnancy, not only alive but capable of moving its limbs briskly for a short time afterwards, but it is unable to prolong its existence separate from the mother beyond a few hours. Cases do occur now and then where a child is born in the sixth month, and where it manages to struggle through, but these are rare, and must rather be looked upon as exceptions to the general rule.

Abortions usually occur from the eighth to the twelfth week, a period which is decidedly the least dangerous for such accidents. "The liability to abortion is greater in the early than in the later periods of pregnancy; for as the union between the chorion and decidua is not well confirmed, as the attachment of the latter to the internal face of the uterus is proportionably slight, and as the extent of surface which the ovum now presents is very small to that which it offers in the more advanced state of pregnancy, and as it can of course be affected by smaller causes, it will be seen that a separation will be more easily induced, and prove much more injurious to the well-being of the embryo, than a larger one at another stage." (Dewees, _Compendious System of Midwifery_, -- 929.) Abortions coming on at a later period, viz. from the sixteenth to the twenty-eighth week, which corresponds to the second division, or _miscarriages_, of the continental authors, are not only more dangerous than abortions at an early stage, for the reasons above-mentioned, but also than premature labours, as in this last division the uterus has attained such a size as to make the process rather resemble that of natural labour at the full term.

_Causes._ Premature expulsion may be induced by a great variety of causes, which may be brought under the two following heads: those which act indirectly, by destroying the life of the embryo, and those which act directly on the uterus itself. These various causes may be general or local; the process of nutrition for the growth and development of the embryo may be defective and scanty, from general debility or disease: hence, whatever depresses the tone of the patient's health renders her liable to abortion by causing the death of the embryo. Thus, dyspepsia and derangement of the chylopoietic viscera; debilitating evacuations; depressing pa.s.sions of the mind; bad or insufficient nourishment; intense pain, as in toothach; severe suffering from existing disease, especially where the health is much broken down by some chronic affection; syphilis, and febrile attacks, all act as indirect causes of abortion.[62]

Salivation from mercury not unfrequently has a similar effect; in some instances, however, febrile affections appear to act much more directly, stimulating the uterus to powerful contractions and rapid expulsion of its contents. The symptoms which indicate the death of the child have already been detailed in the chapter upon that subject.

The period which may elapse between the death and the expulsion of the embryo varies exceedingly: in the early months the one usually follows the other pretty quickly, owing probably to the slight attachment of the ovum to the uterus; during the middle third of pregnancy the interval may be of considerable duration, and cases every now and then occur where the foetus is retained, not only several weeks, but even some months after its death; whereas, during the latter third of pregnancy, expulsion follows the death of the child after a short interval, seldom exceeding two or three days; for now the weight of the dead foetus speedily irritates the uterus to contraction, and, as has been observed by Smellie, the membranes, running gradually into putrefaction, and being now unable to bear the weight of the liquor amnii, burst, and expulsion soon follows.

Among the causes which act locally in inducing premature expulsion by first destroying the child, may be enumerated external violence applied to the abdomen, such as blows, falls, and other violent concussions; these act indirectly by producing separation of the ovum from the uterus, and thus destroying the life of the child. Under the same head may be cla.s.sed all violent exertions, as lifting heavy weights, straining to reach something high above the head, &c. The mere act of walking, when carried to such an extent as to induce exhaustion, will suffice, in weakly delicate females, to bring on expulsion; sudden and violent action of the abdominal muscles, when excited by a half-involuntary effort to save herself from falling, or receiving any other injury, may produce a similar effect: if the foetus be so young that its movements cannot be felt by the mother, she feels from this moment more or less pain in the pelvis, with a sensation of weight and bearing down; and this, in all probability, will be followed by a discharge of blood from the v.a.g.i.n.a: where pregnancy has sufficiently advanced for the motions of the foetus to be perceptible, the mother will frequently feel them in an unusually violent degree for a short time immediately after the injury, and then they cease entirely.

Premature expulsion may also be induced immediately without the previous death of the child, by causes which directly excite the uterus to action: thus, various violent mental emotions, as rage, joy, horror, may act in this manner, although they may also act more indirectly; sudden exposure to cold, as sudden immersion in cold water, will occasionally produce it instantly. Irritation in the intestinal ca.n.a.l will directly excite uterine contraction; hence an attack of dysentery is frequently a cause of abortion, and we not unfrequently meet with patients who are liable to this affection in every pregnancy: a similar effect may be produced by the improper use of drastic purgatives, which irritate the lower bowels, viz.

aloes, scammony, savin, &c.; or the uterus may, in some cases, be excited to contract from the peculiar action of secale cornutum. On the other hand, a loaded state of the bowels equally predisposes to abortion, by impeding the free return of blood from the pelvis. A state of general plethora acts in the same manner; and this is more particularly the case if it takes place at what would, in the unimpregnated state, have been a menstrual period; for, occurring in conjunction with the increased vascular action which prevails at these periods in the uterine system, it produces, as it were, an apoplectic state of the uterine sinuses, which form the maternal portion of the placenta; blood is extravasated between the ovum and uterus; their connexion is more or less destroyed, and the death of the foetus becomes unavoidable: hence, in these cases the expulsion may result either from this latter circ.u.mstance, or from the uterus being irritated to contract by the effused blood between itself and the membranes.

In patients who have suffered from attacks of dysmenorrhoea in the unimpregnated state, the irritable uterus, when pregnant, is very apt to contract upon its contents and expel them. This usually happens at what would have been a menstrual period, and not unfrequently takes place so soon after impregnation as merely to be looked upon as an unusually severe attack, the little ovum having been imperceptibly expelled among the discharges. Under this head must be brought those cases of spasmodic affection of the uterus, which Dr. Burns has described, and where, from the diminutive size of the ovum, the case has rather resembled one of menorrhagia. Cases of abortion are also mentioned by authors where the uterus is stated to be incapable of undergoing the necessary dilatation and increase of size which pregnancy requires; but we are strongly disposed to refer them to the above head of great uterine irritability, as we neither know of any diagnostic marks which will enable us to detect this condition during life, nor are we aware of any physical condition of the uterus short of actual disease, to be detected after death, which can produce this inability.

The uterus may be also excited to expel the foetus, without its previous death by local causes, as acute leucorrhoea, or other inflammatory affections of the v.a.g.i.n.a, by inflammation and other affections of the bladder, as calculus, &c. Too frequent s.e.xual intercourse during the early months of pregnancy is peculiarly liable to excite abortion: this is especially observed among primiparae of the better ranks, where, from luxurious living, &c., there is but little physical strength in proportion to the great irritability of the system: hence we find that a fifth, or even a fourth, of these females abort in their first pregnancies. In conclusion we may briefly state that the same circ.u.mstances which in the unimpregnated condition produce menstrual derangement and other disorders of the uterine system, now act as so many causes of abortion.

The sudden cessation of the breeding symptoms, with sense of weight and coldness in the lower part of the belly, flaccid b.r.e.a.s.t.s, pain in the back and loins, and discharge of blood from the uterus, are pretty sure signs of abortion: they are those which are "produced by separation of the ovum and contraction of the uterus," (_Burns_;) the one is attended by haemorrhage, the other by pain. Although these are two chief symptoms which characterize a case of threatened abortion, and although they must necessarily be present more or less in every instance where premature expulsion actually happens, still neither of them, either separately or conjointly, can be considered as a certain proof that the uterus will carry its contents no longer. Cases not unfrequently happen where patients have repeated attacks of haemorrhage during the early months of pregnancy, and sometimes to a considerable amount, without any apparent disturbance to the process of gestation, and are delivered of a living healthy child at the full term: on the other hand, we have known instances where the pain of the back was severe, and where, on a.s.suming the erect posture even for a minute, the sense of weight and bearing down in the lower part of the abdomen was so great as to make the patient fear that the ovum was on the point of coming away; still even these threatening symptoms have gradually subsided, and the pregnancy has continued its natural period.

Puzos considered that neither pain nor haemorrhage were necessarily followed by expulsion. (_Mem. de l'Acad. de Chir._ vol. i. p. 203.) When, however, both occur together, and to a considerable extent, the case must be looked upon as one of at least doubtful if not unfavourable termination. Where pain comes on at regular intervals, with hardness of the uterus, and dilatation of its mouth, this is a serious symptom, for it shows that the uterus will no longer retain its contents, but is evidently preparing to expel them.

The part of the ovum at which the separation of it from the uterus has taken place, not only determines which of the above symptoms will appear first, but also the probability of expulsion. "When a considerable separation takes place, as must be the case when it commences at the upper parts of the uterus, pain will more likely occur than when it happens near the neck; hence we sometimes have pain before the blood issues externally.

The uterus in this instance suffers irritation from partial distension from the blood insinuating itself behind the ovum; contraction ensues; the blood is thus forced downwards, and is made to separate the attachment between the ovum and the uterus in its course, until it finally gains an outlet at the os tincae. In consequence of the uterus being excited to contraction, the friendly coagula which may have formed from time to time are driven away, and the bleeding each time is renewed and accompanied most probably with increased separation of the ovum, until at last from its extent the ovum becomes almost an extraneous body, and is finally cast off. Hence a separation at or near the os uteri will not be so dangerous, and in all probability there will be haemorrhage without pain, which is the contrary when it takes place near the fundus." (Dewees, _Compend.

System of Midwifery_, -- 981, 982.) The pain during the abortion is sometimes exceedingly severe, and not unlike that of dysmenorrhoea: this is probably owing to the violent contractions of the uterus, which are required to dilate the os and cervix before the ovum can pa.s.s: they are frequently attended with nausea, vomiting, and fainting, and sometimes with more or less general fever and local inflammatory action; the pain is generally attended with much irritability of the bladder, and frequent desire to pa.s.s water; the pulse is mostly quick and small, and where there is arterial excitement, it is sharp and resists the finger.

_Treatment._ The treatment of premature expulsion consists in, 1, that which is intended to guard the patient against its occurrence, or _prophylactic_; and 2, in that which is required _during an attack_.

A knowledge of the various causes of premature expulsion will materially a.s.sist us in the prophylactic treatment; under all circ.u.mstances, even where there is not the remotest fear of such an accident coming on, it is nevertheless highly important to pay strict attention to the state of the stomach and bowels, for these are almost always more or less influenced by the presence of pregnancy; the vomiting and sickness must be relieved in the manner already pointed out under the chapter on the TREATMENT OF PREGNANCY; the bowels, if constipated, must be moved by the mildest laxatives, such as castor oil, Confect. sennae, or a Seidlitz powder; and thus all sources of irritation in the primae viae prevented as far as possible. The patient must carefully avoid every thing which may excite the circulation, such as violent affections of the mind, rich indigestible and stimulating food, violent exertion, &c. The diet should be light, nourishing, and moderate; heavy meals must be forbidden, and especially suppers; she should keep early hours, take gentle and regular exercise, and in fact, endeavour by every means in her power to raise her health to a full degree of tone and regularity. In those patients who have already miscarried in their previous pregnancies, these precautions must be enforced with double vigilence; for the system becomes exceedingly irritable, and the uterus soon acquires, as it were, a habit of retaining its contents only to a certain period, and then prematurely expelling them. When this is the case, it becomes exceedingly difficult, and is often actually impossible, to make it carry the ovum to the full term of utero-gestation, and, despite of the greatest care, the symptoms of premature expulsion will come on at about the same time at which they occurred in former pregnancies, and sometimes to the very same week.