584 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 



stated to be somewhat below the normal, but according to Longridge 

 such cases are unusual. Williams l says that the pulse is slowest on 

 the second or third day, after which it becomes quicker, resuming its 

 normal rate after about ten days. 



The temperature is ordinarily normal during the puerperium, the 

 old idea that the commencement of milk secretion was associated 

 with a rise of temperature having apparently no basis in fact, 

 excepting in cases of infection. 



Little attention has been paid to the changes which occur during 

 the puerperal period in other animals. Strahl has shown 2 that the 

 Mammalia with so-called full placenta (commonly called Deciduata) 

 can be arranged under three groups according to the process of 

 puerperal involution of the uterus. In the first group, to which man 

 and monkeys belong, the epithelium is absent from the mucosa, and 

 requires, therefore, to be re-formed in the manner described above. 

 In the second group the placenta is spread out over the inside of the 

 uterus as in the first group, but in addition to this the inside of 

 the organ is covered by a layer of epithelium. This arrangement is 

 found in Carnivores. In the Rodents we often meet w r ith the third 

 form; here, towards the end of gestation, not only is the womb 

 covered with cell-tissue, but this epithelium also runs from the 

 fimbrisa right underneath the placenta, undermining it till it is finally 

 only adhering to the walls of the uterus by a slender cord carrying 

 the vessels. It is evident, therefore, that the uteri of the second 

 and third groups will resume relatively quickly their non-puerperal 

 appearance. The principal changes that occur are the reduction of 

 the surface epithelium both by the casting off of superfluous parts 

 and by the changing of larger cells into smaller ones, the advance of 

 new epithelium to cover places that were bare, 3 and the reduction 

 and consolidation of the connective tissue. The latter process is 

 effected by the cells becoming more compact, as in the bitch, or by 

 a reduction in the amount of intercellular substance, as in the 

 hedgehog. 4 The puerperal changes in Tarsius are said to resemble 

 those of Rodents. 5 Excepting in those animals which belong to the 

 first group mentioned the lochial discharge is either very slight or 

 absent altogether. 



The changes which take place in the uterus after abortion have 



1 "Williams (Whitridge), loc. cit. 



2 Strahl, " The Process of Involution of the Mucous Membrane of the Uterus 

 of Tarsius spectrum after Parturition," Proc. Section of Sciences, Koninklijke 

 Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, vol. vi., 1904. 



3 Duval, "De la Regeneration de 1'Epithelium des Corne ut6rine apres la 

 Parturition," C. R. de la Soc. de BioL, vol. ii., Series 9, 1890. < 



4 Strahl, " The Uterus of Erinaceus europwus after Parturition," Proc. Sect. 

 Sciences, Kon. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam, vol. viii., 1906. 



5 For the puerperal changes in Tvpaia see van Herwerden, loc. cit. 



