Page:The Works of William Harvey (part 2 of 2).djvu/28

 546 ON PARTURITION.

hot; finding the uterine orifice hard and firmly closed, I forcibly dilated the part by means of an iron instrument suffi- ciently to admit of my introducing a syringe and throwing up an injection ; the effect of which was that grumous and fetid blood, to the amount of several pounds, flowed away, with pre- sent relief of the symptoms.

The wife of a doctor of divinity was brought to me ; a lady of a very tolerable constitution, but who was barren, and having an extreme desire for progeny, had tried all kinds of prescrip- tions in vain. In her the catamenia appeared at their proper, period ; but at times, especially after horse exercise, a bloody and purulent discharge came from the uterus, and then, in a short time, ceased suddenly. Some considered the case as one of leucorrhoea ; others, led chiefly by the fact that the discharge was not continually present, and in small quantities, but ap- peared by intervals and in abundance, suspected a fistulous ulcer ; whereupon they examined the whole vagina by means of a speculum uteri, and appied various remedies, but in vain ; when I was at length called to her. I opened the uterine orifice, and immediately two spoonfuls of pus came away of a sanious character and tinged with streaks of blood. On seeing this I said that there was a hidden ulcer in the uterine cavity, and by applying suitable remedies I restored her to her former state of health. But during the time when I was engaged in her cure, when the ordinary remedies did not appear to be doing much good, I applied stronger ones, suspecting as I did that the ulcer was of long standing, and perhaps covered by exuberant granulations. I therefore added a little Roman vitriol to the injection employed previously, the effect of which was to make the uterus contract suddenly and become as hard as a stone; at the same time various hysterical symptoms showed themselves, such, I mean, as are generally supposed by physicians to arise from constriction of the uterus, and the rising of " foul vapours" therefrom. The symptoms continued some time, until by the application of soothing and anodyne remedies the uterus re- laxed its orifice ; upon which the acrid injection, together with a putrid sanies, was expelled, and in a short time the patient recovered.

I have introduced this account from my " medical observa- tions" for the purpose of showing how acutely sensible the

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