The Matron's Manual of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women During Pregnancy and in Childbed: Being a Familiar and Practical Treatise, More Especially Intended for the Instruction of Females Themselves, but Adapted Also for Popular Use among Students and Practitioners of MedicineHollick, Frederick
Science
The Matron's Manual of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women During Pregnancy and in Childbed: Being a Familiar and Practical Treatise, More Especially Intended for the Instruction of Females Themselves, but Adapted Also for Popular Use among Students and Practitioners of Medicine
Hollick, Frederick
Chloroform; Gynecology; Indian Territory; Midwifery; Obstetrics; Pregnancy
_Miscellaneous signs._--There are a few other presumptive signs, not
easily classified, some of which are of value, while others are so
uncertain, or so little available, as to be almost worthless. All these
however, it is necessary to point out, because some of them may be made
use of in cases where the more ordinary signs are absent.
In the unimpregnated state the mucus membrane, which lines the Vagina,
is of a bright rose color, but in nearly every case of pregnancy it
changes to a bluish, or purplish hue. I do not recollect a single
instance, in the course of my own observation, in which this change
has not occurred, and the same statement is made by several eminent
authors. It is true that in some young females the mucus lining is
naturally darker than it is in others, but, like the areola round the
nipple, this natural tinge is not like that produced by pregnancy. It
is of course impossible to say whether this blue tinge is _always_
produced, though I am inclined to think it is, and I should certainly
consider it an almost infallible sign when present. Parent Duchatelet
states that he was present when M. Jacquemin proved this, without a
single failure, _in four thousand five hundred cases_.
Many females are also warned of their condition by pains in various
parts of their bodies, the most frequent of which is one felt at _the
top of the head_. Some always have palpitation at the heart, and others
experience a singular kind of _fluttering_ in the womb.
Many medical men rely altogether on certain peculiarities in the
_urine_, and as this sign is really a valuable one, in some cases, I
will describe the mode of examination fully. The urine is put in a
clean vessel, and allowed to stand perfectly still. In a short time,
varying from two to six days, a number of little opaque bodies begin to
rise from the bottom, like flocks of cotton, which unite together at
the top into a thin but firm layer, or pellicle, like cream on the top
of milk. This layer is frequently so consistent that it can almost be
raised out of the vessel, by taking hold of one edge, and may be easily
drawn out by passing the finger under it. This substance is called
_kyestein_. It is of a whitish color, semi-transparent, and looks as if
it were partly crystalized. After a few days, if left undisturbed, the
urine becomes thick and muddy, and the pellicle of kyestein breaks up
and falls to the bottom. According to the experience of many medical
men, and so far as I have seen myself, this peculiar substance is
_always_ to be found in the urine of pregnant females, after the first
month, and frequently even earlier. Sometimes a substance _similar_ to
it is observed in the urine of those not pregnant, but there is, in
most of these cases, sufficient difference between them to enable any
one, who has seen both, to distinguish one from the other. The only
time, except during gestation, when real kyestein appears to be formed,
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