The uterus being the great centre of sympathy, the diseases of pregnancy are so many sympathies: and, considered is such, there are no parts which may not become affected by its influence. Not uncommonly there is a continual state of low fever ; and yet pregnancy prevents the coming on of many diseases ; but though it prevents many,it produces some which are serious.
The most troublesome complaint "to which a pregnant woman can be subject, is a retroverted uterus. When this dis ease was first known, it was supposed to arise from fright, or some other surprise ; but this is not true. There are no mus cles attached to the uterus, nor is it capa ble of being influenced by muscular ac tion. The only true cause for this change of position in it is quite mechanical. There is frequently great fulness of the bladder, and if it be very much distend ed, the retroversion will happen in con sequence. The only period in which it can happen, however, lasts but four weeks, between the end of the third month, and the end of the fourth. Foe in the early months of pregnancy, the uterus, in length from the fundus to the cervix, is not so great as to fill the space between the sacrum and the neck of the bladder, and cannot for that reason pro duce suppression which alone consti tutes the disease. ibis applies tooll situa tions of the uterus in unimpregnated women, and women who are with child till the close of the fourth month of preg. nancy; after which the uterus cannot be made to go down into the pelvis. When the uterus has once fairly mount ed into the abdomen, it is impossible for it to pass down into the pelvis again.
The retroversio uteri occurs thus: the bladder becomes full and rises into the cavity of the abdomen ; the neck of the bladder in rising draws up the os uteri with it, which drawing up of the os uteri is assisted by the fundus of the bladder pressing down that of the uterus, and, in nineteen cases out of twenty, the bladder in this way becomes the occasional cause of complaint ; and when the complaint is formed, the suppression of urine is the only material object to be attended to. For, the uterus being retroverted, the woman cannot make water ; therefore it must be drawn off by the catheter.
When the water has been once drawn off, it will be necessary to pass the cathe ter twice a day, till by the enlarging of the it rights huff As it in Presses in size it will gradually rise, but as it may not be convenient for a medical practitioner to call twice a day for some weeks, it is sometimes advisable to at tempt the reducing it ; which is done by the patient placing herself on her hands and knees, when the two fingers of one hand should be passed into the vagina, and a finger of the other into the rectum, by which means it is sometimes possi,ble to succeed. Where the event is left to
time, the uterus is sure to recover its pro per situation ; for which reason it is pre, ferable to leave it.
In attempting to reduce a retroversio uteri, we must recollect always to empty the bladder, and never use force, At any time after impregnation, abortion may take place it is one of the most common com plaints of pregnancy, whence it is matter Ono small consequence that every pricy titioner should well understand it.
Abortion is not peculiar to the human ppecies, but they ire more subject to it than other animals, because they lead more unnatural lives. We see, agreeably to this rule, that the domestic animals more frequently abort than those that are wild. In the human species the greatest number of miscarriages are between the eighth and twelfth week ; perhaps there are more at the tenth week than at any other time of pregnancy; but why this should happen at that time more fre. quently'than any other, we are ignorant, There are two kinds of constitutions very liable to miscarriage ; the most strong and the most weak. The most strong, because there are some causes which act upon the vascular system: the most weak, because many causes act through an irritability of the nervous sys tem. There arc also various occasional causes of abortion, and among these we may mention sympathy. This has such an effect with other animals, that there is not a shepherd but knows that if one sheep abort, others will almost always abort too. if a sheep lamb, the shepherd always separates that animal from the flock, to prevent the other ewes lambing before their time. One animal is thrown into action, because the other animal is acting. Consents, also, are common in animals, as well as sympathies. Certain parts of the body are connected in dis ease; the nose with the rectum in as. carides, and the shoulder with the liver ; crying is known to produce tears in many beholders. These are so many instances of a fact, which proves the impropriety of a pregnant woman being ever in the room with one who has been lately miscarrying. Yet perhaps the true cause of abortion is an indisposition in the uterus to grow after it has reached a certain size ; when arrived at that size contractions begin, labour pains succeed, and this being ac companied with the expulsion of the ovum, constitutes miscarriage ; whether this happen at the second, third, fourth, or fifth month, it is still abortion.