In the case of the opposite (the eliminative) faculty, the os opens, whilst the whole fundus approaches as near as possible to the os, expelling the embryo as it does so; and along with the fundus the contiguous parts--which form as it were a girdle round the whole organ--co-operate in the work; they squeeze upon the embryo and propel it bodily outwards. And, in many women who exercise such a faculty immoderately, violent pains cause forcible prolapse of the whole womb; here almost the same thing happens as frequently occurs in wrestling-bouts and struggles, when in our eagerness to overturn and throw others we are ourselves upset along with them; for similarly when the uterus is forcing the embryo forward it sometimes becomes entirely prolapsed, and particularly when the ligaments connecting it with the spine happen to be naturally lax.[309] A wonderful device of Nature's also is this--that, when the foetus is alive, the os uteri is closed with perfect accuracy, but if it dies, the os at once opens up to the extent which is necessary for the foetus to make its exit. The midwife, however, does not make the parturient woman get up at once and sit down on the [obstetric] chair, but she begins by palpating the os as it gradually dilates, and the first thing she says is that it has dilated "enough to admit the little finger," then that "it is bigger now," and as we make enquiries from time to time, she answers that the size of the dilatation is increasing. And when it is sufficient to allow of the transit of the foetus,[310] she then makes the patient get up from her bed and sit on the chair, and bids her make every effort to expel the child. Now, this additional work which the patient does of herself is no longer the work of the uterus but of the epigastric muscles, which also help us in defaecation and micturition. III Eikos oun kai tên dynamin enargesteron en tais mêtrais phôrasein hêmas tên kathektikên, hosô kai polychroniôteran tês gastros tên energeian kektêtai. mêsi gar ennea pou tais pleistais tôn gynaikôn en autais teleioutai ta kyêmata, memykuiais men hapanti tô aucheni, periechousais de pantachothen auta syn tô choriô. || kai peras ge tês tou stomatos myseôs kai tês 148 tou kyoumenou kata tas mêtras monês hê chreia tês energeias estin; ou gar hôs etychen oud' alogôs hikanas peristellesthai kai katechein to embryon hê physis apeirgasato tas hysteras, all' hin' eis to prepon aphikêtai megethos to kyoumenon. hotan oun, hou charin enêrgoun tê kathektikê dynamei, sympeplêrômenon ê, tautên men anepausan te kai eis êremian epanêgagon, ant' autês d' hetera chrôntai tê teôs hêsychazousê, tê proôstikê. ên d' ara kai tês ekeinês hêsychias horos hê chreia kai tês g' energeias hôsautôs hê chreia; kalousês men gar autês energei, mê kalousês d' hêsychazei.