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Department of Pharmacology, Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Medical School, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT

(Received 15 October 1976)

The intra-uterine balloon is one of the commonest methods used in investigating uterine contractility. The micro-balloon measures the maximum intra-uterine pressure that is developed in a closed system as the myometrium contracts. That intra-uterine pressure measurement is a reliable reflection of myometrial contractility at a physiological level was shown by Csapo (1963) who recorded the electrical activity of the uterus simultaneously with intra-uterine pressure and found good correlation between the two in the rabbit. The micro-balloon method was adopted to study various aspects of the pharmacological control of uterine activity in late gestation in the rat by means of various anti-enzymes. Fuchs (1969) has used large intra-uterine balloons and Boer, Lincoln & Swaab (1975) have used pressure sensitive pills to record uterine activity during late pregnancy and parturition in