Some discrepancy of opinion has existed respecting the treatment of the external wound: sutures are of course the most secure means of retaining the edges in apposition, but they produce great suffering, and, from taking up a good deal of time, delay the closing of the abdominal wound more or less; whereas, straps of sticking plaster are applied much quicker and without any suffering to the patient. To do this most effectually it will be advisable to arrange them under the loins previous to the operation: they should be from five to six feet long, and the ends may be rolled up until wanted; the wound can thus be instantly closed and in the most secure manner. Where the operator finds it necessary to use sutures, he must avoid puncturing the peritoneum as far as possible: the lower inch of the wound should be left open to allow any matter to drain out, and the whole dressed according to the common rules of surgery. The patient should be placed upon her side with the knees bent to relax the abdominal parietes. A grain of the hydrochlorate of morphia has been given in these cases with the best effects, having procured sleep and allayed the disposition to spasmodic coughing and vomiting, which so frequently exists after the operation. One of the greatest triumphs of modern surgery is the performance of this dangerous operation four times successively on the same patient. The first operation was performed in June 1826, the woman being then in her twenty-ninth year, the second in January 1830, the third in March 1832, and the fourth on the 27th June, 1836. The second operation was performed by Wiedemann, of Kiel, and scarcely lasted five minutes; nor does it appear that the patient's sufferings were very great, for the application of sutures on this occasion elicited more complaint than all the operations put together.[100] _History._ Although the early records of the Cæsarean operation are not very distinct, still we possess sufficient data to pronounce it of very considerable antiquity. The earliest mention of it shows that it was at first used merely for the purpose of saving the child by extracting it from the womb of its dead mother, a law having been made by Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, forbidding the body of any female far advanced in pregnancy to be buried until the operation had been performed. The mythology of the ancients refers to two cases of an exceedingly remote period where a living child was taken from the dead body of its mother: these were the birth of Bacchus and Æsculapius; but as these traditions are so enveloped in allegory and mystery, it is difficult to come to any other conclusion than a mere inference of the fact: one circumstance, however, connected with the birth of Bacchus is curious, viz. that his mother Semele died in the seventh month of her pregnancy.