104 HEALTHY ANATOMY.
Mr. T. Holmes, in his late work on the Surgical Treat- ment of the Dis. of Infancy and Childhood, refers to this unique case, as it seems to be, and questions whether it was really one of spina bifida ; but there can be no reasonable doubt in regard to it ; and Dr. Hodges, who reviewed the work of Mr. H. (Med. Jour. July 1, 1869), and has ex- amined the specimen, coincides in this last opinion. Mr. H. thinks the cyst multilocular ; but it was mainly one large cavity, and the cysts in the parietes were quite small. He also severely criticises the statement that the peduncle was " about a foot in length" at the time of birth ; but I could sooner believe that it had shrunk to 2^ in. after the depending weight was taken off, and it had lain for several months in spirit, than that so reliable a person as Dr. Huntington could have much overstated the fact. Unfortu- nately, Dr. H. is now not living, and I have been unable to get any further information in regard to the case.
853. Pelvis, with the integument, etc., from an unusual case of spina bifida ; in spirit. From a foetus, at the term ; the arm presented, and it lived about half an hour.
Over the lower part of the sacrum was a tumor, about half as large as a nutmeg, of a flattened form, and covered by health}' skin. A rounded, fibrous cord ran from this to the spinal canal ; and, this last being cut open, the spinal marrow was found to be continued nearly to the tumor, as it is to the sac in a common spina bifida, where this last is below the formation of the cauda equina. As usually hap- pens in this variety of the malformation, the posterior laminae of the last sacral vertebrae were irregularly devel- oped.
The penis was quite deficient, and the urethra terminated at some distance from the extremity. Stomach quite large, and the duodenum, terminating in a cul-de-sac just before it received the bile-duct, was distended to the size of a large nutmeg. Intestine well till it reached the bladder, when it opened into that organ, and then, standing off from it at a right angle, tapered off like an appendix, f in. long. 'Over the front of the sacrum were two thin, firm, rounded, serous cysts, in. or more in diameter, and not
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