FACTS & OBSERVATIONS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE NATURE & TREATMENT

G. Oakley Heming
1845 The Lancet  
Physician-Accoucheur to St. Pancras Infirmary, and to the Western Dispensary. {Continued from page 339, vol. ii. 1844.) ABORTION. MArry years ago, in examining an ovum which was expelled from the uterus at a very early period of utero-gestation, after having washed away a considerable quantity of coagulated blood, and removed some membranes, I exposed a membranous bag, transparent throughout, with the exception of a white, opaque, pyriform spot, the largest part of which, in diameter, was about
more » ... that of a small split pea. The fluid contained in this membranous sac was also transparent, and, upon the most careful inspection, I could find no embryo floating in it. I supposed this white spot to be a morbid condition of the umbilical vesicle-an organ, according to the opinion of M. Velpeau, important to the vitality and growth of the embryo at this early period of intra-uterine existence, the diseased condition of which must, of necessity, more or less affect its vitality, and in many instances utterly destroy it. About this time, I happened to meet Dr. Hodgkin, and mentioned the fact to him; he said he had observed the same thing, and entertained the same opinion respecting it-viz., that the white spot was a diseased condition of the umbilical vesicle. I have seen'several cases of the same kind since, and in all, the ova were expelled at too early a period of utero-gestation for this state of the umbilical vesicle to be considered its normal condition, as it has been observed by M. Velpeau, perhaps the best authority upon this subject. " 11 est probable qu'elle acquiert ses plus grandes dimensions dans le courant de la troisieme ou de la quatrieme semaine," (page 162;) and it is farther observed, by the same author: 11 Quelquefois on ne la trouve plus des le troisieme mois tandisque dans d'autres circonstances on la rencontre encore sur des produits de quatre, cinque, et six mois." (Page 163.)
doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(02)71166-5 fatcat:lsehy3dpafh4jdkxxwmxp6ro74