I believe there are several items that are described in English by the
word "pessary," none of which are used very often today.  One is a "ring
pessary" which was a rigid ring that was shaped to fit around the cervix
and somehow correct for malpositions of the uterus.  Another is the
"stem pessary" which has a stem that protrudes through the cervical
os.  These terms are from the 17th or 18th century I think.  Obviously
Hippocrates did not write his oath in English and the term pessary is
just the best that a translator could do. Any device that protrudes
through the cervical c{*filter*}and prevent or terminate pregnancy. People
also used {*filter*}l suppositories of things like crocodile dung to induce
{*filter*} back in them thar days.  There is an item called "mokh" mentioned
in the Talmud which also is translated "pessary" in some places.

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|            Stephen Dubin VMD, PhD            |                      |
|  Biomedical Engineering & Science Institute  | Phone: 215-895-2219  |
|  Drexel University,  Philadelphia  PA 19104  | Fax:   215-895-4983  |