ons, hysterical crying, may also be the causative factors.
Displacement of the womb by limiting its tendency to grow when pregnant,
may cause it to miscarry. Very severe general diseases such as
small-pox, pneumonia, etc., will cause the womb to empty itself. Disease
of the fetus or the presence of syphilis in either of the parents will
also have the same result.

THE COURSE AND SYMPTOMS OF MISCARRIAGE.--The cause of a miscarriage or
abortion is much the same as an ordinary labor at term. Whatever
interrupts the pregnancy causes the death of the fetus. The dead fetus
acts as a foreign body and excites the womb to contract as it does
during an ordinary confinement. The contractions open up the mouth of
the womb and the fetus is expelled together with its membranes and
after-birth. The significant and the most important symptom of a
miscarriage or abortion is hemorrhage or bleeding from the privates. The
flow of blood may not amount to much or it may be excessive and
alarming; it may not be constant, it may come from time to time in the
form of clots.

The next significant and important symptom of miscarriage or abortion is
pain. The pain, like the flow of blood, may be only slight or it may be
very severe, sometimes it is absent in very early miscarriage. As a rule
the pain is severe when the miscarriage occurs after pregnancy has
lasted for a number of months.

A miscarriage or abortion is said to be "complete" when the fetus with
its membranes and after-birth is expelled clean and whole, or in other
words when the womb empties itself completely. A miscarriage or abortion
is said to be "incomplete" when some part of the embryo is left in the
womb.

WHAT TO DO WHEN A MISCARRIAGE IS THREATENED.--When a woman, who is
pregnant, begins to flow she should at once go to bed and keep perfectly
quiet and send for a physician. A miscarriage is a treacherous condition
and is so regarded by all medical men. It may not amount to much or it
may, on the other hand, develop into a serious situation. The immediate
danger is from hemorrhage; the ultimate or remote danger is sepsis or
blood poisoning. The condition is one that can only be taken in charge
by a qualified physician in whose hands we can safely leave the conduct
of the case.

As a general rule it is quite safe to assert that a woman will not bleed
enough at the beginning of a miscarriage to do any permanent harm.
Consequently there is no occasion for unnecessary alarm.