On a mal-conformation of the uterine system in women : and on some physiological conclusions to be derived from it : in a letter to Sir E. Home, bart. V.P.R.S. / by A.B. Granville.

  • Granville, A. B. (Augustus Bozzi), 1783-1872.
Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On a mal-conformation of the uterine system in women : and on some physiological conclusions to be derived from it : in a letter to Sir E. Home, bart. V.P.R.S. / by A.B. Granville. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    to be mentioned than the one which it is the purport of the present letter to describe; and when I reflect on the many im- portant researches you have made on this interesting subject, I feel confident, that you will find the contents of the following pages worthy of your attention; since the case they record ap- pears to me to stand single in the annals of descriptive anatomy. It is for this reason, therefore, that I shall confine myself to its description alone, leaving any other information I may pos- sess on the subject, as matter for future correspondence. Early in June 1817,1 was summoned to attend the opening of the body of a woman aged 40, who died at La Maternite, six or seven days after delivery, of what had long been sus- pected to be a disease of the heart, or of some of the larger vessels. This conjecture was notill founded ; for on examining the contents of the thorax, an aneurism of the aorta was dis- covered, together with a considerable enlargement of the heart. As a subject for secondary consideration, it may not be im- proper to mention, also, that the bronchiae were found lined by a beautifully formed membrane, entirely detached from their inner surfaces, and admitting of being extracted without deranging its tubiform structure; yet, the patient had never complained of any disorder of the respiratory organs. Our attention, however, during dissection, was soon engaged by a still more curious anatomical arrangement, which pre- sented itself to our view on the examination of the abdominal viscera. The womb, half concealed by the intestines, and im- mersed in a considerable quantity of serous fluid, being four times at least the size of what it is in the unimpregnated state, was lying in its natural position. On clearing it from all the surrounding parts, it was found that this viscus had acquired