ENZOOTIC ABORTION IN COWS. 129 



experiment with a cow that aborted very early. Apparently 

 there was no placenta ; there was no discharge afterwards ; 

 everything was very clean. I l)rought her to my cow barn, 

 thinking it was perfectly safe, and the cow that stood next 

 to her aborted in three days. I now make it a rule to keep 

 a cow that has once suffered away three months or longer, if 

 there is any sign of discharge. I do not know how we can 

 account for this contagion, unless it is through the smell en- 

 tirely. I had a cow that was in the quarantine barn from 

 lameness ; a heifer that was there aborted, and within an 

 hour from the time the heifer dropped her dead calf this old 

 cow made a sniff, began to bellow, and in three-quarters of 

 an hour she cast her calf. 



In regard to the treatment of the animals after they have 

 aborted, it is necessary, as the paper states, that the after- 

 birth should be removed at once, or within twenty-four 

 hours. It must be done very carefully, because the after- 

 birth is not ready to come away. It must be done thor- 

 oughly, and the parts kept perfectly clean ; and the cow 

 should not be allowed the service of the bull for six or seven 

 months — perhaps longer is better ; and then it is a difficult 

 matter always to make her breed. I have tried a variety of 

 experiments in that way latterly, and I think I have discov- 

 ered one reason for the difficulty. After abortion, the neck 

 of the womb is very apt to get displaced ; instead of being 

 in the regular position, it is very apt to be a little dropped, 

 a little curved, so that the bull fails to make his proper con- 

 nection. Two or three years ago I tried to remedy this diffi- 

 culty once or twice unsuccessfully. This year I have had 

 three or four cases of abortion, and one was the case of a 

 cow that I had been coupling quite carefully for nearly two 

 years. The operation consists in straightening the neck of 

 the womb and opening it. After the neck of the womb has 

 been held in place for an instant, the cow is led out at once 

 to the bull. 



Mr. C. D. Benedict of Holyoke. I would like to know 

 if the gentleman has ever known a heifer or cow to go by 

 after showing thes*e indications ? 



Mr. BowDiTCH. Rarely. If you see the indications and 

 can discover a live calf, you may save it. I think on one or 



