Roman law that every woman dying in advanced pregnancy should
be so treated; and in 1608 the senate of Venice enacted that any
practitioner who failed to perform this operation on a pregnant woman
supposed to be dead, laid himself open to very heavy penalties. But the
first recorded instance of its being performed on a living woman occurred
about 1500, when a Swiss pig-gelder operated on his own wife. From this
time onwards it was tried in many ways and under many conditions, but
almost invariably with the same result, the death of the mother. Even as
recently as the first half of the 19th century the recorded mortality is
over 50%. Thus it is no surprise that craniotomy--in which the life of the
child is sacrificed to save that of the mother--was almost invariably
preferred. As the use of antiseptics was not then understood, and as it was
customary to return the uterus to the body cavity without suturing the
incision, the immediate cause of death was either septicaemia or
haemorrhage. But in 1882 Saenger published his method of suturing the
uterus--that of employing two series of sutures, one deep, the other
superficial. This method of procedure was immediately adopted by many
obstetricians, and it has proved so satisfactory that it is still in use
today. This, and the increasing knowledge of aseptic technique, has brought
the mortality from this operation to less than 3% for the mother and about
5% for the child; and every year it is being advised more freely for a
larger number of morbid conditions, and with increasingly favourable
results. Craniotomy, _i.e._ crushing the head of the foetus to reduce its
size, is now very rarely performed on the living child, but symphysiotomy,
_i.e._ the division of the symphysis pubis to produce a temporary
enlargement of the pelvis, or caesarean section, is advocated in its place.
Of these two operations, symphysiotomy is steadily being replaced by
caesarean section.

This operation is now advised for (1) extreme degrees of pelvic
contraction, (2) any malformation or tumour of the uterus, cervix or
vagina, which would render the birth of the child through the natural
passages impossible, (3) maternal complications, as eclampsia and concealed
accidental haemorrhage, and (4) at the death of the mother for the purpose
of saving the child.

CAESAREA PALAESTINA, a town built by Herod about 25-13 B.C., on the
sea-coast of Palestine, 30 miles N. of Joppa, on the site of a place
previou