Others who expect much from medicinal treatment look to that class of medicines which cause contraction of the unstriped muscular fibres as the most promising. With these medicines they expect to diminish the supply of blood to the tumor by causing contraction of the arterioles traversing their substance, and thus disturbing their nutrition to such a degree as to stop their growth, lessen or destroy their vitality, and so render them subject to the influence of the absorbents, whereby they may be removed. Some of the more energetic of these medicines--as ergot and belladonna, for instance--often affect these growths very promptly. Ergot not only lessens the calibre of the small blood-vessels, and thus causes a diminution of their nutrition and disappearance, but it causes strong contractions in the muscular fibres of the uterine walls, which lessen more decidedly their supply of blood. It sometimes squeezes and chafes the tumor until it is disintegrated and rendered a foreign substance. {260} The capsule finally becomes ruptured, and the tumor is expelled either piecemeal or en masse. When properly administered, ergot frequently greatly ameliorates some of the troublesome and even dangerous symptoms of fibrous tumors of the uterus--_e.g._ hemorrhage and copious leucorrhoea; it often arrests their growth; in many instances it causes the absorption of the tumor, occasionally without giving the patient any inconvenience: at other times the removal of the tumor by absorption is attended by painful contractions and tenderness of the uterus; by inducing uterine contraction it causes the expulsion of the polypoid variety of the submucous tumor; in the same way it causes the disruption and discharge of the intramural tumor. There are many cases on record to substantiate every one of these propositions. From what I consider well-authenticated sources, including the cases under my own observation and in the practice of my friends and neighbors, I have collected 136 cases of fibrous tumors treated by ergot. Of these, 25 cases were cured without giving the patients any inconvenience from painful contractions. In 46 cases the tumors were diminished in size and the hemorrhage was cured. In 27 others the hemorrhagic symptom was relieved, while the size of the tumor was not affected. In 8 other instances the tumors were broken to pieces and expelled piecemeal. For examples of cases in which the first conditions obtained, I would refer to those cured by Hildebrandt; of the other examples, 4 were reported to me by the late J. P. White of Buffalo, N. Y., 1 each by the late Hodder of Canada and Jukes, and 11 that occurred among my immediate acquaintance and in my own practice.