The Bloody Piece of Apron Redux

[mariab]

I recall reading that the Uterus is the strongest muscle in the human body.

The strongest, most often used muscles in the human body are the biceps and the quad(riceps).
The uterus is not a muscle. You're referring to the Pubococcygeus muscles (or Kegel muscles), which can be pretty strong (and they'd better be ;-)), but still not as strong as if we carried weights and walked/jumped/run stairs with them all day.
The most vital muscle in the body is the heart. If it's off, we die. If it's broken, well, maybe it can be fixed after a while. ;-)
By the by, the bestest wishes for a quickest recovery with your own quad, Archaic, and to some
horseriding soon.

[Archaic]

Hi Maria.

I double-checked because i was just going from memory, and you're right about the whole uterus itself not being a muscle, but it's lined with incredibly strong muscle of the type called 'smooth muscle'.

This article says that the myometrial layer of the uterus is considered to be the strongest muscle in the human body by weight.

Of course the uterus is very small (size of a small pear), nowhere as near as big as, say, a man's quadricep, but if their relative strengths are compared it looks like the uterine muscle is stronger.

Take that, He-Men!!

Best regards,
Archaic

[mariab]

Hi Archaic. Interesting. I'd have to check about “smooth muscle“.
On my own body, the stronger muscle happens to be the quad. (Much stronger than a man's, probably from keeping pulling ollies in the halfpipe to get higher, and from wakeboarding jumps. Which I both miss SORELY right now.) :-(

[Victor]

There were several methods of bringing about an abortion. There was always a local woman, who was usually a midwife as well that could bring on a miscarriage. I think it's safe to say, that amongst prostitutes, her services were used far more as an abortionist than as an actual midwife. I'd be very surprised if she wasn't fully booked most of the time with the amount of prostitutes there were in the area.

Hi Jane et al,

Have you seen "Vera Drake"? That covers what you are discussing, especially the high risks associated with it.

KR,
Vic.

[Carol]

Archaic, I wish I could feign surprise. Anything that can be monetized is monetized. The idea of systemic values in capitalist society is laughable. If someone can even dream of some balderdash reason you should give him money or buy his product, it is fair game. I am currently making plutonium necklaces of Christ that "glow" when you love him. Did you want to pre order? Dave

I gather you are not a Christian, Dave. I am. I think it is very sad when people use Jesus as a joke. He has done so much for us all.
Carol

[Errata]

You know, I have reread this entire thread and I'm still not exactly sure how we got to pessaries (you are correct Archaic), birth control, and abortionists.

Not complaining, just marveling at conversational evolution.

[Edward]

Curious that nobody heard anything

Hello All –
Something that I find interesting is that nobody in the immediate area of Catherine’s murder heard anything. Okay, so you dispatch a semi-drunk or at least hung-over woman, and nobody hears a thing. Then, the killer cuts through, and/or tears her clothing in order to access the victim’s abdomen (and tears her apron). The tearing of cloth makes noise. There’s no way to stifle that. Even if Jack is hovering over the victim and (marginally) muffling the sound, tearing something up still makes noise. A location like Mitre Square, with buildings all around must have been a very quiet place. And through it all, nobody noticed. Go Figure. I imagine that the warehouses were quiet at that hour.

Edward

[Archaic]

link to new thread: "Prostitution- Medical Journal Articles c.1880's

Hi guys. Errata, I have no idea how this thread morphed either, or even how many times, but I'm glad it has because it's become really interesting and informative. I'm glad others are choosing to participate, like Edward just now.

(Hi Edward. There was a past thread on the subject of whether sounds could be heard in Mitre Square. Not sure if it's located in the Victims Forum under 'Catherine Eddowes' or elsewhere...perhaps someone will remember.)

I wanted to let you guys know that I just started to post some of my collection of LVP Medical Journal articles relating to the subject of Prostitution. I decided to start a new thread rather than post them here because I have quite a few articles and being from contemporary scientific journals they take a very different approach to the subject of prostitution than we are doing here.

We are taking a humanistic approach that is concerned with the everyday realities of impoverished women in the LVP, whereas the medical profesionals attempted to "scientifically study" prostitutes as if they had no individuality at all, but were instead countless identical cells of a deadly "social bacteria" grown so massive that it posed a threat to Civilization itself!
(Yikes! But I guess the End has always been near...)

The thread is in General Discussions and is titled "Prostitution- Medical Journal Articles c.1880's"

Here's the link: http://forum.casebook.org/showthread...524#post164524

Hope you enjoy it. Looking forward to hearing everyone's responses.
Best regards,
Archaic

[Jenni Shelden]

Wow, this thread is so interesting!!

You guys know such a lot about this side of things.

Bravo

Jenni

[Archaic]

Hi Jenni, nice to see you here!

Glad you are enjoying this oddball little thread of ours. (It was sort of an orphan, so we took it in.)

I know you're busy with the magazine, but please come back and join in the discussion when you can.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we all look forward to enjoying any future contributions you care to make.

Best regards,
B.

[curious4]

Old cxxxk

I have noticed that this word has been censured. Please - not a "rude" word at all, but a term of endearment or affection. It is most probably the origin of the word cxxxney!

[Jane Coram]

Hi Curious,

I think that was a compliment to us Cockney's. Lol.

Kate came from the area of Wolverhampton, so I suspect it might be a Northern expression. I've never heard it as a Cockney expression, but it could possibly be a more generic London expression, as even between different parts of London different phrases were/are used. A South Londoner has a different accent to an East Ender. I can tell if someone was born within a few blocks of where I was brought up, it just sounds slightly different to someone from other parts of the East End.

East Londoners would generally call someone "Duck'; 'Love','Sweetheart'; "Darling'; Mate; or 'Gel' (girl). There are quite a few others, but I'm brain dead today.

Just going back to the post about the noise level in Mitre Square and whether or not the sound of ripping fabric could have been heard. PC Pearce and his wife were in the front bedroom of a house that was quite close to the murder spot and they didn't hear a thing. I should imagine though that the sound of ripping fabric must have been pretty audible in a nigh on silent square. They must have had their Horlicks. Lol.

Hugs

Janie

xxxxxx

(Horlicks is a bedtime drink in the UK )

[curious4]

Old cxxxk!

Hello Jane,

I am also a cxxkney by birth - although due to the house next to the nursing home being bombed, not for long! All babies and mothers were bundled off to Hampstead, with the result that my mother almost ended up with the wrong baby!

I am sure that the expression was (and is) still used in the East End, but perhaps on the Kentish side of London? - I grew up in Kent. The quote about cxxks and East London is from a book called "London is London",from the 1940īs/1950īs which gives accounts of London from the Middle Ages onward written at the time. (In a poem written in the Middle Ages, London is referred to as the "Myghty Carbuncle", which I love!) Unfortunately the book has gone walkabout, leaving only its jacket behind, so I shall have to wait until it turns up in my untidy and bookstrewn home!

I have a sister living in Camberwell - I can ask her if it is familiar. I lived in London for seven years from the age of nineteen and am sure it was commonly used, also remember hearing it in my youth! Could be that old age is playing tricks on me!

Best wishes,

C4

[curious4]

Old cxxk!

P.S. Just Googled it and think it may be an abbreviation of "me old **** sparrow"

All the best,
C4

See - they did it again!! What are you allowed to call a male chicken (or sparrow) these days!!

[Carol]

Hi curious4 and Jane!
I was born and brought up in Chatham, Kent, and I can remember 'me old ****' being a common expression in the far-off days of my youth. It was always used in a friendly way. I think your idea that it might be an abbreviation of 'me old **** sparrow' very likely to be true.

I'm enjoying this thread!
Love
Carol

(I can't remember typing in lots of asterixes). 'The **** crowed at dawn'. 'The **** sparrow fell off his perch'. 'The young man was very cocky'. (The last one seems O.K).