As it has -been very well said by Helm, " The difiBculty of the
position is obvious, when we refer to the fact that while one
school recommends morphia to control the fits and inhibit meta-
bolism, another would exhibit thyroid extract because it enhances
tissue change."

The main point is, in rapid delivery, of which Caesarean
section is the best example, do the eclamptic fits cease ? In the
second of my own cases, they did, and the woman recovered
consciousness. Out of the 28 recorded by Streckeisen : — In 14,
the eclamptic fits absolutely stopped ; in 3 they were diminished ;
in 2 they remained unchanged ; in 6 he could find no particulars ;
and in 2 the Csesarean section was post-mortem. Therefore one
may see here that in practically half the cases, carefully recorded,
the fits ceased. ' Furthermore, it has been shown by Duhrssen
and others that eclampsia ceases more frequently after artificial
than after spontaneous evacuation of the uterus, and the
mortality in both cases does not dififer to any material
extent.
It has long been a matter of conunon knowledge that the
cessation of eclampsia in the great majority of cases, takes place
simultaneously with the completion of parturition. Out of 118
cases recorded, the eclampsia ceased immediately or very rapidly



206 CiESAKKAK SECTION IN ECLAMPSIA,

on the evacuation of the uterus in 103 cases, or in 89 per cent.
