DISEASES OF CATTLE 155 



ness alone, but largely to the fatty degeneration of his testicles and 

 their excretory ducts, which prevents the due formation and matura- 

 tion of the semen. 



If he has been kept in extra high condition for exhibition in the 

 show ring, this disqualification comes upon him sooner and becomes 

 more irremediable. 



Similarly the overfed, inactive cow, and above all the show 

 cow, fails to come in heat at the usual intervals, shows little disposi- 

 tion to take the bull, and fails to conceive when served. Her trouble 

 is the same in kind, namely, fatty degeneration of the ovaries and of 

 their excretory ducts (Fallopian tubes), which prevents the forma- 

 tion or maturation of the o'vum or, when it has formed, hinders its 

 descent into the womb. Another common defect in such old fat cows 

 is a rigid closure of the mouth of the womb, which prevents concep- 

 tion, even if the ovum reaches the interior of that organ and even if 

 the semen is discharged into the vagina. 



Preventive. The true preventive of such conditions is to be 

 found in a sound hygiene. The breeding animal should be of adult 

 age, neither overfed nor underfed, but well fed and moderately ex- 

 ercised ; in other words, the most vigorous health should be sought, 

 not only that a strong race may be propagated, but that the whole 

 herd, or nearly so, may breed with certainty. 



In case of rigid closure of the mouth of the womb the only resort 

 is dilatation. This is far more difficult and uncertain in the cow 

 than in the mare. The neck of the womb is longer, is often tortuous 

 in its course, and its walls so approximated to each other and so rigid 

 that it may be all but impossible to follow it, and there is always 

 danger of perforating its walls and opening into the cavity of the ab- 

 domen, or short of that of causing inflammation and a new rigid 

 fibrous formation which, on healing, leaves matters worse than be- 

 fore. The opening must be carefully made with the finger, and when 

 that has entered the womb further dilatation may be secured by in- 

 serting a sponge tent or by careful stretching with a mechanical 

 dilator. 



STERILITY FROM OTHER CAUSES. 



The questions as to whether a bull is a sure stock getter and 

 whether a cow is a breeder are so important that it would be wrong 

 to pass over other prominent causes of sterility. Breeding at too early 

 an age is a common source of increasing weakness of constitution 

 which has obtained in certain breeds. Jerseys have especially been 

 made the victims of this mistake, the object being to establish the 

 highest milking powers in the smallest obtainable body which will 

 demand the least material and outlay for its constant repair of waste. 

 With success in this line there has been the counterbalancing disad-' 

 vantage of impaired vigor, with too often lessened fertility as well as 

 increased predisposition to disease. When the heifers of the race 

 have for generation after generation been bred under a year old, the 

 demand for the nourishment of the fetus is too great a drain on the 

 immature animal, which accordingly remains small and stunted. As 

 it fails to develop in size, so every organ fails to be nourished to per- 



