490 WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE 



When there is much prostration or collapse, stimulants should 

 be given and external warmth applied. 



Parturition. — The females of the domestic animals do not 

 require the same arrangements and care as the period of parturi- 

 tion draws near, or when that act has commenced, as does woman. 

 As a rule, they bring forth their young without assistance,*and if 

 properly fed and sheltered need but little attention otherwise. The 

 larger animals, and especially the cow, are liable to expel their 

 young before, the full period of pregnancy has been reached, and this 

 so-called abortion is sometimes a serious misfortune, particularly 

 when it occurs in a place where there are many pregnant cows ; as 

 when the accident happens to one, it may extend to all, or nearly 

 all When abortion takes place at a comparatively early period, 

 the effects are not very damaging to the animal, but every precau- 

 tion should at once be adopted to prevent its neighbors from abor- 

 ting. With this object,4^hey should all, if possible, be immediately 

 moved from the shed in which the accident has occurred — no con- 

 tact or approach being allowed between them and the patient, nor 

 should people or utensils, or anything else, be allowed to pass be- 

 tween the infected shed and the yet unaffected cows. The acci- 

 dent should be treated as if it were a highly infectious disease ; 

 disinfectants must be freely employed, the foetus and all the mem- 

 branes and discharges must be disinfected and buried, and injec- 

 tions of some mild disinfectant — as a weak solution of Condy's 

 fluid, or carbolic, should be made into the vagina of the cow which 

 has aborted. The same procedure should be adopted in the case 

 of sheep. If many animals abort, the veterinary surgeon should 

 be sent for to ascertain the cause, as well as to report upon the 

 general health of those animals which are not yet involved. 



If there is any unusual delay in an animal bringing forth its 

 young, there is something amiss with it; or the young creature is 

 not in a proper position, or is defective or distorted in shape. 



No time should be lost in sending for the veterinary surgeon 

 when this delay takes place. Nothing is more pernicious or dan- 

 gerous than waiting too long, or allowing unskilled persons to inter- 

 fere ; as the strength of the parent may be exhausted, and the life 

 of the progeny sacrificed, by undue delay ; or irreparable damage, 

 or even a fatal result, may follow injudicious meddling or rough 

 interference. More particularly is this the case with the mare — 

 an animal which must foal quickly, which is most difficult to aid 

 when there is any obstacle, and which readily succumbs when aid 

 is too long deferred, or when it is improperly attempted to be ren- 

 dered. The natural presentation — in the larger animals at least — 

 is with the fore limbs, the feet coming first, and the nose between 

 the arms. When the water-bag has appeared and burst, and after 



