520 THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 



PARTURITION. 



As a rule parturition is quickly performed in the mare, 

 ten or twenty minutes generally being all the time occu- 

 pied. The opposite is the case with the cow. Generally 

 speaking, if the act of parturition be protracted to any 

 extent the foal is born dead ; while in the case of a cow 

 the act may occupy a day, or longer, and the calf survive. 

 As a rule parturition is accomplished very easily, the 

 animal rarely requiring any assistance. The act may be 

 performed either in the standing or recumbent positions. 

 The colt comes in the water-bag, and when in the natural 

 position the fore-feet and head come first. In some cases the 

 OS uteri is not sufficiently dilated to allow the foetus to 

 pass ; the mare strains violently, etc., but without making 

 the slightest headway in the expulsion of the foetus. In 

 such a case the practitioner should make a careful examina- 

 tion of the parts, and if it is found that the os uteri is in- 

 sufficiently dilated, it must be remedied, in some cases 

 immediately; in other cases, if a little patience be exer- 

 cised, by waiting awhile, the os may dilate of its own 

 accord. Injections of tepid water directly upon the part 

 will facilitate dilatation. The same object may, in many 

 cases, be effected by smearing the os uteri with belladonna 

 (soft extract). In cases where dilatation cannot be effected 

 on account of disease of the parts, or for some other 

 reason, it becomes necessary to divide the os, preferably at 

 its superior part. The parts will now be felt to give way, 

 and the hand can be introduced into the uterus without 

 any farther difficulty. The practitioner, on being called to 

 a parturition case, should, as a preliminary step, make a 

 careful examination of the parts, and inform himself fully 

 of the position of the foetus, the condition of the parts, 

 and of every other point that may be of assistance. He 



