DROPSY During pregnancy:
-W.Morgon Attending the latter stages of pregnancy though not always confined to this period, is that passive effusion under the skin which medical men recognise as Anasarca. It simply distends the parts, creeps on gradually, and is chiefly confined to the lower limbs. Everybody must remember to have seen poor women when in the family way, and to have heard such people severely blamed for running about with their boots unlaced; when the fact is, that had these approaching mothers attempted to fasten the laces, the size of their limbs would have rendered such an effort ridiculous. This increased dimension of the extremities is provoked by the pressure of the gravid uterus preventing the absorbents from carrying off the fluids of the lower limbs. The best remedy in these cases, and that which should always be tried in the first instance, is lying down with the enlarged limb rather elevated; then to have gentle friction applied outside the stocking till some relief is gained; after which ...