The periodoscope: with its application to obstetric calculations, and the periodicities of the sex / By W. Tyler Smith.

  • Smith, W. Tyler (William Tyler), 1815-1873.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The periodoscope: with its application to obstetric calculations, and the periodicities of the sex / By W. Tyler Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    cases, the catamenia appear regularly at the end of a lunar month, after abortions, miscarriages, and prema- ture labours. V. CONCLUSION. A correct nomenclature and the precise employment of certain terms are points of great importance in ob- stetric records. The word “months” ought to be entirely banished from them, unless it be distinctly stated whether ovarian or lunar months are meant thereby. As the lunar and catamenial months correspond in duration, and as the catamenial periodicity is the basis of the periodicities of the sex, all their computations should be made in lunar or catamenial periods. Any statistics, whether based on individual observation, or on the records of a large number of practitioners, must be valueless, unless this condition be premised. In the same way, the term, “ the last catamenia,” should never be used without dis- tinctly stating whether it be meant that the catamenia appeared or disappeared on a certain day; and any one dating from the day of the disappearance of the cata- menia, should state the number of days during which the catamenial flow continued. It would be better in all cases to date from the day of the appearance of the catamenia, because the date of their return 1s much more regular than the date of their disappearance; in some women the flow continues for seven or eight days; and other cases are met with where the catamenia never con- tinue more than a day or two. |