Some practical questions arise from the following cases:
A., æt. 19, had an abdominal tumor of four months' standing. Two physicians, after a long and careful examination, pronounced it a gravid uterus. This was indignantly denied by the patient, and the most deplorable family feeling and bitter feud followed. Eight months later the mistake was discovered, and an ovarian tumor was removed weighing 119 lbs.
B., a widow, married four years without issue. Twelve months after widowhood she was sent to me to be operated on for ovarian tumor. Two months later she was delivered of a healthy boy. The mistake of the physician in the first case caused the most poignant grief to a large number of excellent people. The mistake of the physician in the second case saved the woman from disgrace, for being sent a long distance from home to have the tumor removed, the labor was