Contributors to Vol. LXVI AUGUST, 1910-JULY, 1911 BENEDICT, A. L. BETHUNE, CHARLES W. COLEMAN, N. R. CONNOR, LEARTUS FRONCZAK, F. E. GAYLORD, H. R... GOULD, G. M... HAYD, H. E... LOVETT, R. W. MACLEOD, J. A. MCGUIRE, EDGAR R. MCMURTRY, L. S... MANN, M. D... MATSON, G. H. MASON, F. S. MILLS, W. W... PARK, ROSWELL PRYOR, J. H.. BUFFALO ACADEMY OF MEDICINE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL NEW YORK MEDICAL SOCIETY COUNTY OF CHEMUNG MEDICAL SOCIETY COUNTY OF ERIE MEDICAL SOCIETY COUNTY OF SCHUYLER NATIONAL CONFEDERATION STATE MEDICAL EXAMINING LICENSING BOARDS AND Progress in Obstetrics and Gynecology1 BY J. CLARENCE WEBSTER, M.D. Chicago Ill. Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Rush Medical College, affiliated with the University of Chicago. TH LECTURE I.-OBSTETRICS-PART I. HE most ancient writings on medical subjects belong to Egypt, though the fragments possessed by us give but an imperfect idea of the exact status of medical science and practice in the early periods of its history. The most important document is the Ebers papyrus, now in the University of Leipzig. Its date was about 1500 B. C. It deals with the construction of the body and diseases of various parts, including special maladies of women. The most important Egyptian medical works were six volumes of the series known as the Hermetic Books. Though these do not now exist, their titles are known, and it is interesting to note that one was a treatise on diseases of women. They were the authoritative guides to the practitioners of the time, priestphysicians. According to the Herodotus there was a fairly welldefined specialism in Egypt, though as regards obstetric practice it is probable that it was entirely in the hands of midwives, the references to obstetric subjects in the Ebers papyrus being very scanty. In ancient Greece the practice of medicine was for a long period in the hands of the priests. Only in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era did others enter the field, some actually studying diseases of the body, others working at the anatomy of animals, while still others became experts in the subject of personal hygiene. Obstetric cases were attended by midwives who, according to Plato, were accustomed to give medicines to hasten labor, to tie and cut the cord, and to induce abortions. The genuine writings of Hippocrates contain very scanty accounts of obstetric and 1. The second series of Harrington Lectures delivered at the University of Buffalo, May 24, 25, 26, 1910. |