ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION 233 



which many of them suffer, and to this is attached an immense annual 

 loss to farmers and breeders. 



Artificial insemination requires that the operator be provided with 

 a suitable instrument to gather up and transfer the semen to the uterus 

 of the mare, and that certain precautionary measures against failure be 

 observed. In this latter connection it is necessary: (1) that the tempera- 

 ture of the syringe employed be raised to 100 F., which may be done by 



Fig. 536. Artificial Insemination : Passing the Inseminator into the Uterus 

 A, Uterus; B, os uteri; C, vagina; D, inseminator; D', bulb of inseminator; E, rectum; F, bladder. 



placing it in a pail of warm water; (2) that it should be thoroughly clean; 

 (3) that the semen should be injected into the uterus of the mare soon 

 after it leaves the sire. Exposure to the air, to cold, or strong sunlight, 

 weakens the vitality of the spermatozoa, and when unduly prolonged 

 kills them and defeats the operation. 



The mare to be inseminated must, of course, be "in use", and while 

 in this condition should be served by the horse in the usual way. 1 The 

 seminal fluid discharged during the service will be deposited on the floor 

 of the vagina near to the mouth of the uterus. 



1 Under favourable conditions successful impregnation has followed when the semen has been transported 

 long distances. 



