egnancy.

_How early can the child live?_--The infant is incapable, as a rule, of
an independent existence, if brought into the world before the end of
the sixth month. The law of France regards a child born one hundred and
eighty days after wedlock as not only capable of living, but as
legitimate and worthy of all legal and civil rights. There are many
cases mentioned, by the older medical writers, of children born previous
to this period living. One of the most curious is that recorded by Van
Swieten. The boy Fortunio Liceti was brought into the world before the
sixth month, in consequence of a fright his mother had at sea. When
born, it is said, he was the size of a hand, and his father placed him
in an oven, for the purpose, probably, it has been suggested, of making
him _rise_. Although born prematurely, he died late, for we are told
that he attained his seventy-ninth year. Professor Gunning S. Bedford of
New York records the case of a woman in her fourth confinement, who,
before she had completed her sixth month, was delivered of a female
infant weighing two pounds nine ounces. The surface of the body was of a
scarlet hue. It breathed, and in a short time after birth cried freely.
After being wrapped in soft cotton, well lubricated with warm sweet-oil,
it was fed with the mother's milk, by having a few drops at a time put
into its mouth. At first it had great difficulty in swallowing, but
gradually it succeeded in taking sufficient nourishment, and is now a
vigorous, healthy young woman.

_Dangers to mother._--Wives are too much in the habit of making light of
miscarriages. They are much more frequently followed by disease of the
womb than are confinements at full terms. There is a greater amount of
injury done to the parts than in natural labor. While after confinement
ample time is afforded by a long period of repose for the bruised and
lacerated parts to heal, after a miscarriage no such rest is obtained.
Menstruation soon returns; conception may quickly follow. Unhappily,
there is no custom requiring husband and wife to sleep apart for a month
after a miscarriage, as there is after a confinement. Hence, especially
if there be any pre-existing uterine disease, or a predisposition
thereto, miscarriage is a serious thing.

_Causes._--The irritation of hemorrhoids or straining at stool will
sometimes provoke an early expulsion of a child. Excessive intercourse
by the newly married is a very frequent cause. Bathi