That the child had not had six months of
intrauterine life he could vouch, the statement being borne out
by the last menstrual period of the mother, the date of the first
fetal movements, the child's weight, which was 30 1/2 ounces, and
its appearance. Budin had had this infant under observation from
the beginning and corroborated Villemin's statements. He had
examined infants of six or seven months that had cried and lived
a few days, and had found the alveolar cavities filled with
epithelial cells, the lung sinking when placed in a vessel of
water. Charpentier reported a case of premature birth in his
practice, the child being not more than six and a half months and
weighing 33 1/2 ounces. So sure was he that it would not live
that he placed it in a basin while he attended to the mother.
After this had been done, the child being still alive, he wrapped
it in cotton and was surprised next day to find it alive. It was
then placed in a small, well-heated room and fed with a spoon on
human milk; on the twelfth day it could take the breast, since
which time it thrived and grew.
There is a case on record of a child viable at six months and
twenty days. The mother had a miscarriage at the beginning of
1877, after which menstruation became regular, appearing last
from July 3 to 9, 1877.
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