DISEASES OF CATTLE 163 



ULCERS ON THE PENIS. 



Sores on the penis of the bull may result from gravel or sebace- 

 ous masses in the sheath or from having served a cow having leucor- 

 rhea. 



Treatment. These may be treated by frequent injections into 

 the sheath of a lotion made with 1 dram of sugar of lead, 60 drops 

 carbolic acid, and 1 quart water. 



POLYPUS OF THE VAGINA OR UTERUS. 



A polypus is a tumor growing from the mucous membrane, 

 and often connected to it by a narrow neck. A definite cause can 

 not always be assigned. If growing in the vagina, a polypus may 

 project as a reddish, rounded tumor from the vulva, especially 

 during the act of passing water. It can be distinguished from descent 

 of the womb by the absence of the orifice of that cavity, which can 

 be felt by the oiled hand beyond the tumor in the depth of the 

 vagina. From a vaginal hernia caused by the protrusion of some 

 abdominal organ enveloped by the relaxed wall of the vagina it may 

 be distinguished by its persistence, its firm substance, and the im- 

 possibility of returning it into the abdomen by pressure. A hernia 

 containing a portion of bowel gurgles when handled and can be 

 completely effaced by pressure, the gut passing back into the ab- 

 domen. 



A polypus in the womb is less easily recognized. At the time 

 of calving it may be felt through the open mouth of the womb and 

 recognized by the educated touch (it must be carefully distinguished 

 from the mushroom-formed cotyledons, to which in ruminants 

 the fetal membranes are attached). At other times, unless the 

 womb is opened in the effort to expel it, the polypus can only be 

 detected by examining the womb with the oiled hand introduced 

 through the rectum. 



Polypi may cause a muco-purulent discharge or they may only 

 be suspected when they prove an obstacle to parturition. The best 

 way to remove them is to put the chain of an ecraseur around the 

 neck, or pedicle, of the tumor and tear it through; or the narrow 

 neck may be torn through by the emasculator, or in an emergency 

 it may be twisted through by rotating the tumor on its own axis. 

 The removal of the tumor will allow calving to proceed ; after which 

 the sore may be treated by a dailv injection of one-half dram of 

 sulphate of zinc, 1 dram carbolic acid, and 1 quart milk-warm water. 



PREGNANCY. 



SIGNS OF PREGNANCY. 



If a cow remains for three or four weeks after service without 

 showing signs of heat (bulling), she is probably pregnant. There 

 are very exceptional cases in which the well-fed cow will accept 

 the bull weeks or months after actual conception, and others equally 

 exceptional in which the well-thriven but unimpregnated female 

 will refuse the male persistently, but these in no way invalidate the 

 general rule. 



