DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 207 



sewed up before the woinb is retiiined. After its letiiin. the womb 

 must be iiijecteil daily with an autise[)tic solution (borax, one-half 

 ounce, or carbolic acid, 3 drams to a (juart of tepid water). If iti- 

 llammation threatens, the abilomen may be bathed continuously with 

 hot water by means of a hea\y woolen ra«^, and hu<^e doses of opium 

 (one-half dram) nuiy be given twice or thrice daily. 



RUPTURES OF THE VAGINA. 



These are attended with dangers similar to those belonging to riii)- 

 ture of the womb, and in addition by the risk of protrusion of the 

 bladder, which ai)pears through the lips of the vulva as a red, pyri- 

 form mass. Sometimes such lacerations extend downward into the 

 bladder, and in others upward into the terminal gut (rectum). In 

 still other cases the anus is torn so that it forms one common orifice 

 with the vulva. 



Too often such cases prove fatal, or at least a recovery is not at- 

 tained, and urine or feces or both escape freely into the vagina. The 

 simple laceration of the anus is easily sewed up, but the ends of the 

 muscular fibers do not reunite and the control over the lower bowel 

 is never fully reac(|uired. The successful stitching up of the wound 

 conmiunicating with the bladder or the rectum requires unusual skill 

 and care, and though I have succeeded in a case of the latter kind, I 

 can not advise the attempt by unprofessional persons. 



BLOOD CLOTS IN THE WALLS OF THE VAGINA. 



(See '• Eflfusion of blood in the vaginal walls," p. 190.) 



LAMINITIS. OR FOUNDER. FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 



This sometimes follows on inflaiumation of the womb, as it fre- 

 (juently does on disorder of the stomach. Its symptoms agree with 

 those of the common form of founder, and treatment need not dillVr. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB AND PERITONEUM. 



Thest> may result from injuries sustained by the womb during oi- 

 after parturition, from exposure to cold or wet, or from the irritant 

 infective acti(m of putrid products within the woini>. Under the 

 inflammation the womb remains dilated and flaccid, and decomposi- 

 tion of its secretions almost always tx^curs, so that the inflammation 

 tends to assume a ])utrid character and general septic infe<tion is 

 likely to occur. 



Si/tnptam«. — The symptoms are ushered in by shivering, staring 

 coat, small, rapid pulse, elevated tempiMature, accelerated breathing, 

 loss of appetite, with arched back, stiff movement of the body, look- 

 ing back at the flanks, and uneasy motions of the hind limbs, dis- 

 charge from the vulva of a li(|uid at first watery, reddish, or yellow- 

 ish, and later it may be whitish or glairy, and fetid or not in dif- 

 ferent cases. Tenderness of the abdomen shown on pressure is 



