Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine | Page 7

habit of making a "protective" clause
whenever they concoct a "medicine," which is to the effect that the
"medicine" will be effective provided that no woman in this condition
is allowed to approach the tent of the official in charge.
Empiricism had doubtless taught the ancient husbands the dangers of

sexual intercourse during this period, and the after-results of many such
connections were looked upon as manifestations of the contagiousness
of the evil excretions issuing at this period. Hence at one time
menstruation was held in much awe and abhorrence.
On the other hand, in some of the eastern countries menstruation was
regarded as sacred, and the first menstrual discharge was considered so
valuable that premenstrual marriages were inaugurated in order that the
first ovum might not be wasted, but fertilized, because it was supposed
to be the purest and best for the purpose. Such customs are extant at the
present day in some parts of India, despite the efforts of the British
Government to suppress them, and descriptions of child-marriages and
their evil results have often been given by missionaries.
As the advances of physiology enlightened the mind as to the true
nature of the menstrual period, and the age of superstition gradually
disappeared, the intense interest in menstruation vanished, and now,
rather than being held in fear and awe, the physicians of to-day
constantly see the results of copulation during this period. The
uncontrollable desire of the husband and the mercenary aims of the
prostitute furnish examples of modern disregard.
The anomalies of menstruation must naturally have attracted much
attention, and we find medical literature of all times replete with
examples. While some are simply examples of vicarious or
compensatory menstruation, and were so explained even by the older
writers, there are many that are physiologic curiosities of considerable
interest. Lheritier furnishes the oft-quoted history of the case of a
young girl who suffered from suppression of menses, which, instead of
flowing through the natural channels, issued periodically from vesicles
on the leg for a period of six months, when the seat of the discharge
changed to an eruption on the left arm, and continued in this location
for one year; then the discharge shifted to a sore on the thumb, and at
the end of another six months again changed, the next location being on
the upper eyelid; here it continued for a period of two years. Brierre de
Boismont and Meisner describe a case apparently identical with the
foregoing, though not quoting the source.

Haller, in a collection of physiologic curiosities covering a period of a
century and a half, cites 18 instances of menstruation from the skin.
Parrot has also mentioned several cases of this nature. Chambers speaks
of bloody sweat occurring periodically in a woman of twenty-seven;
the intervals, however, were occasionally but a week or a fortnight, and
the exudation was not confined to any one locality. Van Swieten quotes
the history of a case of suppression of the menstrual function in which
there were convulsive contractions of the body, followed by paralysis
of the right arm. Later on, the patient received a blow on the left eye
causing amaurosis; swelling of this organ followed, and one month
later blood issued from it, and subsequently blood oozed from the skin
of the nose, and ran in jets from the skin of the fingers and from the
nails.
D'Andrade cites an account of a healthy Parsee lady, eighteen years of
age, who menstruated regularly from thirteen to fifteen and a half years;
the catamenia then became irregular and she suffered occasional
hemorrhages from the gums and nose, together with attacks of
hematemesis. The menstruation returned, but she never became
pregnant, and, later, blood issued from the healthy skin of the left
breast and right forearm, recurring every month or two, and finally
additional dermal hemorrhage developed on the forehead. Microscopic
examination of the exuded blood showed usual constituents present.
There are two somewhat similar cases spoken of in French literature.
The first was that of a young lady, who, after ten years' suppression of
the menstrual discharge, exhibited the flow from a vesicular eruption
on the finger. The other case was quite peculiar, the woman being a
prostitute, who menstruated from time to time through spots, the size of
a five-franc piece, developing on the breasts, buttocks, back, axilla, and
epigastrium. Barham records a case similar to the foregoing, in which
the menstruation assumed the character of periodic purpura. Duchesne
mentions an instance of complete amenorrhea, in which the ordinary
flow was replaced by periodic sweats.
Parrot speaks of a woman who, when seven months old, suffered from
strumous ulcers, which left cicatrices on the right hand, from whence,
at the age of six years, issued a sanguineous discharge with associate

convulsions. One day, while in violent