The subject of this report was a free negress, aged twentysix, of vigorous constitution, and in the enjoyment of previous good health.

She had been twice married, and had borne two children at full period, and had suffered four abortions-the period of preg nancy, at which the abortions occurred, was not ascertained. I saw her first about five P. M., of 9th December, 1857. The history of the attack then obtained, was this:

About nine o'clock in the morning of the same day, she had felt sudden abdominal pain, and soon after became so faint that she would have fallen but for the support of her husband. She was laid upon a bed, and partly recovered from her fainting condition. The pain in the abdomen, however, continued, and increased in intensity. She had taken no remedies except an unascertained quantity of tincture of camphor. I found her with all the symptoms betokening prostration from hemorrhage: her countenance was pallid-her lips and mucous membrane of mouth blanched-her pulse feeble, scarcely perceptible, and surface cold and clammy. She was, also, very restless, tossing about in the bed; had vomited, and was somewhat incoherent. She had menstruated five or six weeks previous to this time. I at once ordered stimulants and anodynes, which were freely administered, and from the influence of which she seemed to rally; but on my return, after a very short absence, I found her sinking rapidly and hopelessly.

She died at eleven o'clock, about fourteen hours after the sudden expression of pain in the morning.

The following morning, with the assistance of Drs. S. N. Hall, J.C. Metcalfe, and W. E. Gilpin, I made an autopsy. On opening the peritoneal cavity, it was found filled with coagula of blood, and on instituting search for the cause of the hemorrhage, we discovered that a rupture had occurred in the right Fallopian tube, near its connection with the uterus. The rupVOL I, NO. 1-1.

ture was probably the fourth of an inch in extent, and on increasing the size of the opening, a cavity was found as large as a chestnut, involving both the tube and proper tissue of the uterus. In this cavity the mouths of several small vessels were found to terminate. Near the opening of this cavity, we found a membranous looking body, which had evidently been displaced from it, and which was undoubtedly an ovum; unfortunately it was lost. The uterus was lined with decidua; it was not noted whether the mouth of the uterus was occupied by the usual gelatinous plug of pregnancy or not.

The following measurements of the uterus as now obtained, after a year's immersion in alcohol, may interest the reader:

The rupture is at the fundus, a little posterior to the mesial transverse line of the organ, and embraces the structure of the uterus, and about four or six lines of the right Fallopian tube. No direct communication exists between the lesion and the cavity of the uterus; the Fallopian canal is easily traceable into the part ruptured. The ovary of the right or corresponding side, is fully one third larger in its antero-posterior diameter than the opposite one. The cavity of the uterus is lined by a mucous or deciduary membrane.

The larger diagram exhibits the uterus in its posterior aspect, reduced in size: the smaller figure is an illustration of the cavity of the ovisac, of its true size; both plates are faithful representations of the original. The pathological specimen is deposited in the museum of the University of this city, to which it was presented by Dr. Metcalfe.

Extra-uterine pregnancy is an accident of sufficient frequency to be practically important to all physicians who earnestly seek to obtain the means of recognizing and alleviating every pathological condition threatening the safety of the parturient female. Two inquiries naturally suggest themselves to the mind of one who undertakes to investigate this subject. First, is it possible to gain such knowledge of the phenomena attending pregnancy exterior to the uterine cavity, as to enable us to diagnose the condition in season to institute measures for the security of our patients? Second, if an authoritative standard of diagnosis be established, what resources