170 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



in consequence. Excessive loss of blood, attended as it usually is 

 by shock, becomes a direct cause of abortion. 



Acute inflammations of important organs are notorious causes 

 of abortion, and in most contagious fevers it is a common result. 

 Affections of the chest which prevent due aeration of the blood 

 induce contractions of the womb, as shown experimentally by 

 Brown-Sequard. Pregnant women suffocated in smoke aborted in 

 many cases. (Retoul). 



Chronic diseases of the abdominal organs are fertile sources 

 of abortion, especially those that cause bloating or diarrhea, or the 

 diseases of the ovaries, kidneys, or bladder. 



Fatty degeneration of the heart, a common disease in old cows 

 of improved beef breeds, lessens the circulation in the placenta 

 (and fetus) and, arresting nutrition, may cause abortion. 



Indigestions of all kinds are especially dangerous, as they are 

 usually associated with overdistention of the first stomach (paunch) 

 with gas. As this stomach lies directly beneath and to the left side 

 of the womb, any disorder, and above all an excessive distention of 

 that organ, presses on or affects the womb and its contents danger- 

 ously. It further causes contractions of the womb by preventing 

 aeration of the blood. Hence all that tends to indigestion is to be 

 carefully guarded against. Privation of water, which hinders 

 rumination and digestion ; ice-cold water, which rouses the womb to 

 contraction and the calf to vigorous movement; green, succulent 

 grass, to which the cow has been unaccustomed ; clover which has just 

 been wet with a slight shower; all green food, roots, potatoes, apples, 

 pumpkins that are frozen or have been, or that are simply covered 

 with hoar frost ; food that has been grown in wet seasons or that has 

 been badly harvested; growing corn, oats, etc., if the animal is un- 

 used to them; a too dry food of a too stimulating food (wheat 

 bran, pease, maize, and cotton seed) fed too lavishly may, 

 any one of them, induce abortion. The dry and stimulating foods 

 last named bring on constipation with straining, and also elevated 

 temperature of the body, which, in itself, endangers the life of 

 the fetus. 



Putrid, stagnant water is hurtful both to digestion and the fetus, 

 and abortions in cows have been repeatedly traced to this source and 

 have ceased when pure water was supplied. Ergoted grasses have 

 long been known as a cause of widespread abortion in cows. It is 

 especially common in damp localities and cloudy seasons on meadows 

 shaded by trees and protected against the free sweep of the winds. 

 The same is to a large extent true of smut. Hence, wet years have 

 been often remarkable for the great prevalence of abortions. As 

 abortion is more prevalent in old dairying districts, the ergot may 

 not be the sole cause in this instance. 



Both ergot and smut vary in potency according to the stage of 

 growth. Fodders harvested in wet seasons are always more or less 

 musty, and musty hay and grain have been long recognized as a 

 prolific cause of digestive, urinary, and cerebral disorders. Impac- 

 tions and bloatings of the stomachs, excessive secretion of urine 



