Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/70

ABORTION. foetus is suspended, may either ooze away or come away in a gush.

The pain is rarely continuous; at times it resembles the intermittent pains of a colicky diarrhoea. It is caused by the contraction of th"e uterine muscle trying to eject a foreign body. With each muscular contraction there is oozing, or more copious bleeding, or the expulsion of the product of conception. If the pains are comparatively weak and occur at long intervals, it may be possible to prevent the abortion. If they are strong and come closely one after the other, the chances of stopping the process are less.

Treatment. Healthy physical and mental ex- ercise is one of the best preventives of this accident. In families where the mother or grandmother aborted frequently, special care of diet, exercise, and clothing should be taken. Constipation should be avoided by the use of water and the green vegetables. Should the symptoms mentioned occur, the woman should lie down, absolutely quiet, on her back and call her regular medical attendant. There are occasional cases (as where the out- let of the pelvis is very contracted) in which it is necessary for physicians to induce abortion. It cannot be too generally known that all at- tempts at procuring criminal abortion, either by the administration of powerful drugs or the ap- plication of instruments, are accompanied with extreme danger to the pregnant woman. It can- not be too earnestly impressed upon the mind of those who are tempted to procure a criminal abortion hy means of drugs that the danger of causing death is very serious. JIany so-called emmenagogues (q.v.), which induce the menstrual flow in a woman who is not pregnant, but is merely sutTering from amenorrhcea, or suppres- sion of the menses, are abortifacients only when given in such doses as to endanger life, or to set up violent internal inflammations. Among these are the various preparations of ergot of rye (q.v.), savin (the most powerful of all emmena- gogues), borax, rue, tansy, cantharides, etc. In the South, among the ignorant negroes, concoc- tions of pennyroyal and cotton-root bark are used for the same purpose. The milder enunena- gogues, such as iron, aloes, etc., have no abortive tendenc.v, except in the case of those women who are predisposed to abort. Violent purgatives, in cases where they have caused abortion, have not done so because they directly exercise an ecbolic effect on the uterus, but only as a secondary con- sequence of the excessive intestinal irritation which they cause.

Abortion, or Miscarriage, in Law. The courts in this country are not agreed as to the nature of the crime at common law. In a number of States there are decisions or dicta to the effect that "to produce an abortion on a woman, before she is quick with child, and with her consent," is not to commit the common- law crime of abortion. On the other hand, it has been judicially declared in Pennsylvania that "it is not the nuirder of a living child which constitutes the offense of abortion, but the de- struction of gestation by wicked means and against nature," and, consequently, that one who intentionally causes the miscarriage of a woman, even with her consent and before the ftetus has quickened, is indictable at common law. This appears to be the correct view, and it has been approved by several courts. Modern stat- utes, as a rule, have given effect to this view. At present the crime is generally defined, with much particularit}-, by statute, and may be com- mitted by one of three classes of persons. First, bj' the pregnant woman who takes any drugs or submits to any treatment with intent to produce her miscarriage, unless that is necessary to save her life or the life of the child. Second, by a person prescriljing, supplying or administering any substance to a woman, or treating her, with intent to cause her miscarriage, unless that is necessary to save her life or the life of the child. Under some statutes, such .a person may be guilty of the offense, whether the woman is pregnant or not; the gist of his crime consisting in the intention with which his act was done. Third, by a person manufactiiring, giving or selling an instrument or substance with intent that it may be unlawfully used in procuring the mis- carriage of a woman. Acts done in procuring an abortion may subject the actor to punishment for another crime also, as assault (q.v.), or homi- cide (q.v.). Consult: Wharton, Criminal Lair (Philadelphia, 1890); Harris, Principles of the CriiDinal Law (London, 1899).

Abortion in Animals. In general, two forms of abortion are recognized by veterinarians, the non-contagious and the contagious. There are a number of conditions which may produce non-contagious abortion. A general cachexia or an;emia may be among the predisposing causes of abortion; and among other conditions and causes which may lead to abortion mention should be made of acute diseases of the vital organs, contanious fevers, chronic diseases of the abdominal organs, diseases of the ovaries, kidneys, or bladder, diarrhoea, fatty degeneration of the heart; ingestion of large quantities of cold water, various forms of indigestion, espe- cially those which are accompanied by the forma- tion of gas in the stomach; imprudent feeding with succulent forage in large quantities, such as roots, potatoes, apples, pumpkins, ergotized grasses, sweaty or rusty grains and grasses; standing in stalls with too great a backward slope, nervous excitement, and muscular strain. Contagious abortion is most frequent in cows. It occurs also in sheep, goats, horses, swine, and, perlaps, in the dog and cat. It appears in an enzootic or e])izoiJtic form. The disease is per- petuated iu the herd or transmitted from one herd to another by means of contagion. If an aborting cow is placed in a herd which has hitherto been healthy, an outbreak of abortion maj' occur. Bulls that have served aborting cows may transmit the disease to other cows. In general, the micro-organisms to which the disease is due are found in the male and female genital organs, and on the afterbirth from aboi-t- ing ammals.

In cows, abortion seldom occurs before the fourth month of pregnancy, but may occur at any time after that period. The symptoms of the disease are not prominent or characteristic. Cows which are affected with the disease may remain apparently healthy until abortion takes place. The foetus is expelled with ease, and is usually dead at birth. If abortion occurs at the end of six mouths the young may be alive, but lives only a few hours. Mares abort between the fourth and the seventh month of gestation. The premonitory symptoms of abortion in mares are enlargement of the mammary glands and a white mucous or sometimes purulent discharge