DISEASES OF CATTLE 189 



inserted between the two, and once started the finger may be pushed 

 on, lifting all the villi in turn out of their cavities. This process of 

 separating the cotyledons must be carefully conducted, one after an- 

 other, until the last has 'been detached and the afterbirth comes freely 

 out of the passages. I have never found any evil result from the re- 

 moval of the whole mass at one operation, but Shaack mentions the 

 eversion of the womb as the possible result of the necessary traction, 

 and in cases in which those in the most distant part of the horn of 

 the womb can not be easily reached, he advises to attach a cord to the 

 membranes inside the vulva, letting it hang out behind, and to cut 

 off the membranes below the cord. Then, after two or three days' 

 delay, he extracts the remainder, now softened and easily detached. 

 If carefully conducted, so as not to tear the cotyledons of the womb, 

 the operation is eminently successful ; the cow suffers little, and the 

 straining roused by the manipulations soon subsides. Keeping in a 

 quiet, dark place, or driving a short distance at a walking pace, will 

 serve to quiet these. When the membranes have been withdrawn, 

 the hand, half closed, may be used to draw out of the womb the of- 

 fensive liquid that has collected. If the case is a neglected one, and 

 the discharge is very offensive, the womb must be injected as for 

 leucorrhea. 



INFLAMMATION OP THE VAGINA (VAGINITIS). 



This may occur independently of inflammation of the womb, and 

 usually as the result of bruises, lacerations, or other injuries sustained 

 during calving. It will be shown by swelling of the lips of the vulva, 

 which, together with their lining membrane, become of a dark-red or 

 leaden hue, and the mucous discharge increases and becomes whitish 

 or purulent, and it may be fetid. Slight cases recover spontaneously, 

 or under warm fomentations or mild astringent injections (a tea- 

 spoonful of carbolic acid in a quart of water) , but severe cases may 

 go on to the formation of large sores (ulcers), or considerable por- 

 tions of the mucous membrane may die and slough off. Baumeister 

 records two cases of diphtheritic vaginitis, the second case in a cow 

 four weeks calved, contracted from the first in a newly calved cow. 

 Both proved fatal, with formation of false membranes as far as the 

 interior of the womb. In all severe cases the antiseptic injections 

 must be applied most assiduously. The carbolic acid may be in- 

 creased to one-half ounce to a quart, or chlorine water, or peroxide of 

 hydrogen solution may be injected at least three times a day. Hypo- 

 sulphite of soda, 1 ounce to a quart of water, is an excellent applica- 

 tion, and the same amount may be given by the mouth. 



LEUCORRHEA (MUCOPURULENT DISCHARGE FROM THE PASSAGES). 



This is due to a continued or chronic inflammation of the womb, 

 or the vagina, or both. It usually results from injuries sustained in 

 calving, or from irritation by putrid matters in connection with re- 

 tained afterbirth, or from the use of some object in the vagina (pes- 

 sary) to prevent eversion of the womb. Exposure to cold or other 

 cause of disturbance of the health may affect an organ so susceptible 

 as this at the time of parturition so as to cause inflammation. 



