NARCOTICS.--Drugs which produce sleep.
NITROGEN.--One of the chemical elements.
NUCLEUS.--A clearly defined area found in every cell which seems to be its seat of government.
OBSTETRICS.--The branch of medicine which deals with the treatment and care of women during pregnancy and child-birth.
OVARY.--The organ which contains the egg-cells or ova.
OVIDUCTS.--Two tubes, each of which leads from the neighborhood of one of the ovaries; both terminate in the uterus.
OVUM.--An egg: the cell contributed by the mother to her offspring.
OXYGEN.--One of the chemical elements.
PATHOLOGY.--The branch of medicine which deals with the altered structure and activity of diseased organs.
PEPSIN.--A ferment found in the digestive juice secreted by the stomach.
PELVIC FLOOR.--The muscles, ligaments, and other tissues which form the bottom of the basin inclosed between the hips.
PELVIS.--The bony ring formed chiefly by the hip bones. Posteriorly the ring is completed by the sacrum.
PERINEUM.--The region extending backward from the outlet of the vagina to the rectum; it is the most essential part of the pelvic floor.
PHYSIOLOGY.--Scientific knowledge of the manner in which the various parts of the body perform their duties.
PIGMENT.--Any coloring matter.
PLACENTA.--The organ through which the communication between the mother and the offspring is established. One of its surfaces is attached to the wall of the uterus; at about the middle point of the other surface the umbilical cord takes its origin.
PRENATAL.--Pertaining to the period before birth.
PROTEIN.--A food-stuff which is distinguished by the fact that it contains nitrogen and is a tissue builder.
PROTOPLASM.--The living substance in the cells which compose our bodies.
PUBERTY.--Sexual maturity in human beings.
PUBIC BONES.--The part of the pelvis which forms an arch in front of the bladder.
PUERPERIUM.--The same as the lying-in period.
RETINA.--The innermost coat of the eye-ball and the one which receives visual impressions.
RICKETS.--A disease of infancy characterized by softening of the bones.
SECRETION.--The product of the activity of a gland.
SEDIMENT.--The material which settles to the bottom of any liquid.
SPERMATOZOON (plural spermatozoa).--The microscopic cell contributed by the male parent, which stimulates the ovum to begin its development.
SUPPOSITORY.--A medicinal substance made into the form of a cone to be introduced into the rectum.
TERM.--The time of expected delivery.
THERAPEUTIC.--Concerned with the treatment of disease.
THYMUS GLAND.--A structure located behind the breast bone near the root of the neck. Only traces of it are found in adult life.
TISSUE.--An aggregation of similar cells in a definite fabric, as muscle, nerve, gland, etc.
TUBES.--The oviducts.
UMBILICAL CORD.--The structure carrying the blood vessels which pass between the placenta and the child's navel.
UTERUS.--The womb: a hollow muscular organ designed to receive, protect, nourish, and expel the product of conception.
VAGINA.--The canal through which the child passes from the uterus into the world.
VEIN.--A vessel through which the blood flows back to the heart.
VERNIX.--The fatty substance deposited over the skin of the newly born infant.
VIABLE.--Capable of living.
VILLI (singular villus).--The microscopic, finger-like processes which hang from one of the surfaces of the placenta and are surrounded by the mother's blood.
VISCERA.--The internal organs which occupy the cavities of the chest and the abdomen.
VULVA.--The folds of tissue which surround the outlet of the vagina.