Two Unnatural Cases of Labour

left side. When separated, the placenta had a gritty feel, as if calcareous deposits were in it at the places where it was adherent. The woman did well. That these two cases should form the subject of one paper, may at first sight appear strange, but they have in reality one feature in common which unites them very closely. It is evidently not the method of procedure which possesses this, for the poles of midwifery practice are reached, in the severe manual labour necessary for the relief of the one case, and the masterly inactivity principle pursued in the other. In the last case the child had been dead for some time, and was smaller than the usual full-term child ; when the os uteri was dilated with the bag of membranes and this was suddenly evacuated, the head of the child fell down into the position occupied by the bag, and from subsequent injudicious traction the head was drawn outside the vulva. The proper expulsion pains had not set in, and until they did, the proper plan was to wait for them. The opium of course was given to get rest, as the woman had been frightened and exhausted by being required to make efforts. In the same way the hands of the twin in the first case fell down into the