Although Cæsarean section is one of the simplest operations that can be performed on the pelvic organs, it formerly had a very high mortality; but since the principles of asepsis have been thoroughly established the death-rate from this operation has been so reduced that it varies from 4 to 10% according to the skill of the operator; indeed the results are so good in the hands of careful and skilful men that on recovery from the operation the patient may reconceive, and there are conditions in which the patient is desirous to produce more children with the knowledge that they must be extricated by Cæsarean section. There are many instances on record of women being submitted to this operation twice, and some thrice; and at least two patients have undergone this operation four times (Sinclair). In view of the fact that a woman after being submitted to Cæsarean section may reconceive, it has been urged (especially by Sinclair) that the anterior surface of the uterus should be attached to the abdominal wall in such a manner as to promote the formation of adhesions, so that when the patient needs to be submitted to ‘repeated Cæsarean section’, the adhesions resulting from the primary operation will so shut off the operation area from the general peritoneal cavity, that the uterus may be opened and the fœtus and placenta extracted by a practically extraperitoneal operation. This question has been discussed in an able and comprehensive paper by Wallace, and also by Sinclair. There is one great danger which women run by becoming pregnant after Cæsarean section, namely, rupture of the uterus. Some cases illustrating this accident have been reported. This accident has been discussed by Wallace. [Illustration: FIG. 21. PORTION OF OVARY AND FALLOPIAN TUBE. The parts were removed a year after a supposed complete oöphorectomy had been performed to induce an artificial menopause. This fragment of ovary maintained menstruation regularly. Full size.] Although a few writers, particularly Wallace, consider that all Cæsarean sections should be performed with a view to ulterior pregnancy, this is not the opinion of the majority, for there are many women who, having passed such an ordeal once, have no desire to do so again, and ask for something to be done to prevent its possibility in the future. This involves what is known as ‘sterilization’.