France, and the other states on the continent of Europe, perform it not only as an operation of necessity, but as one of election, in cases where the mother may confessedly be delivered with safety, by sacrificing the life of the fœtus; it would also appear that in general they have recourse to the operation, before the patient has suffered very much from the continuance of labour. How greatly this circumstance is capable of influencing the success of a surgical operation, we have a satisfactory demonstration in the history of that for _Hernia_, and in which _Mr. Bell_[458] informs us, the French were formerly more fortunate, because they proceeded more early to the operation than the surgeons of almost any other nation. It deserves notice that the religious tenets of different countries appear to have influenced the popularity of the cæsarean section; it is easy to suppose that in those catholic nations where, a belief exists of the necessity of baptism to secure the eternal happiness of the infant, the mother would become a willing sacrifice to make her offspring a christian.[459]. In delivering our opinion upon the propriety of performing the cæsarean section in this kingdom, we should say that there are cases in which it is the bounden duty of the accoucheur to proceed without delay, and such appears to have been that described by _Dr. Merriman_, of which the pelvis in the museum of _Mr. Charles Bell_ is a sufficient proof; for so extreme is the distortion, that a marble measuring less than one inch in diameter, cannot be made to pass through it in any direction; in this case, and some others of a similar nature, the _Cæsarean_ section was the only means of preserving the child. We are of opinion, however, that the operation ought never to be performed where by _Embryulcia_ the child can be extricated; and although circumstances of inheritance should induce the husband to entertain a feeling like that which animated Henry VIII, the practitioner has but one broad line of duty to observe, to save if possible the mother and child, but where this is impossible, to feel no hesitation in sacrificing the life of the latter. In the event of a woman, near the full time of pregnancy, dying undelivered, the _Cæsarean_ operation ought always to be performed with as little loss of time as possible; since by this measure a chance of preserving the child will be afforded, and _Dr. Merriman_ states that several cases of such an operation, after the death of the mother, have been recorded, with the desired effect of saving the infant.[460] _Numa Pompilius_ prohibited the burial of a pregnant woman until the fœtus shall have been extracted.[461] We have already stated, upon the authority of _Suidas_, that to such an interposition Rome owed the life of _Julius Cæsar_; and it has been maintained that _Edward_ VI was thus taken from his mother after death, while others have endeavoured to render it probable, that the cæsarean operation was performed while she