154 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



It is, however, in the female especially that this morbid desire is 

 most noticeable and injurious. It may be excited by the stimulating 

 quality of the blood in cows fed to excess on highly nitrogenous food, 

 as the seeds of the bean, pea, vetch, and tare, and as wheat bran, mid- 

 dlings, cotton seed gluten meal, etc., especially in the case of such as 

 have no free exercise in the fields, and are subject to constant associa- 

 tion with a vigorous young bull. A more frequent cause is the excita- 

 tion or congestion of some part of the genital organs. Disease of the 

 ovaries is pre-eminently the cause, and this may be by the formation 

 of cysts (sacs containing liquid) or of solid tumors or degenerations, 

 or, more commonly than all, the deposition of tubercle. Indeed, in 

 case of tuberculosis attacking the abdominal organs of cows, the 

 ovaries or the serous membranes that support and cover them (the 

 broad ligaments of the womb) are peculiarly subject to attack and 

 the animal has constant sexual excitement, incessantly riding or 

 being ridden by other cattle, having no leisure to eat or chew the cud, 

 but moving restlessly, wearing the flesh off its bones, and gradually 

 wasting. In some localities these cows are known as "bullers," be- 

 cause they are nearly always disposed to take the bull, but they do not 

 conceive, or, if they do, they are subject to early abortions. They are, 

 therefore, useless alike for the dairy and for the feeder, unless the re- 

 moval of the ovaries subdues the sexual excitement, when, in the ab- 

 sence of tuberculous disease elsewhere, they may be fattened for the 

 butcher. 



Among the other sources of irritation charged with causing 

 nymphomania are tumors and cancers of the womb, rigid closure of 

 the neck of the womb so that conception can not occur and the fre- 

 quent services by the male stimulate the unsatisfied appetite, and in- 

 flammation, and a purulent discharge from the womb or vagina. 



Treatment. The treatment in each case will vary with the 

 cause and is most satisfactory when that cause is a removable one. 

 Overfeeding on richly nitrogenous food can be stopped, exercise in 

 the open field secured, diseased ovaries may be removed, catarrhs of 

 the womb and passages overcome by antiseptic astringent injections, 

 and tumors of the womb may often be detached and extracted, the 

 mouth of that organ having been first dilated by sponge tents or 

 otherwise. The rubber dilator (impregnator) though sometimes 

 helpful in the mare is rarely available for the cow, owing to the dif- 

 ferent condition of the mouth of the womb. 



DIMINUTION OR LOSS OF VENEREAL DESIRE (ANAPHRODISIA) . 



This will occur in either sex from low condition and ill health. 

 Long standing chronic diseases of important internal organs, leading 

 to emaciation and weakness, or a prolonged semistarvation in winter 

 may be sufficient cause. It is, however, much more common as the 

 result^ of degeneration or extensive and destructive disease of the 

 secreting organs (testicles, ovaries) which elaborate the male and 

 female sexual products, respectively. Such diseases are, therefore, a 

 common cause of sterility in both sexes. The old bull, fat and lazy, 

 becomes sluggish and unreliable in serving, and finally gets to be use- 

 less for breeding purposes. This is not due to his weight and clumsi- 



