DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 215 



nate cases a good-sized sponge soaked in tincture of muriate of iron 

 should be introduced into the womb and firmly squeezed, so as to 

 bring the iron into contact with the bleeding surface. This is at once 

 an astringent and a coagulant for the blood, besides stimulating the 

 womb to contraction. In the absence of this agent astringents (solu- 

 tion of copperas, alum, tannic acid, or acetate of lead) may be 

 thrown into the womb, and one-half-dram doses of acetate of lead 

 may be given by the mouth, or 1 ounce powdered ergot of rye may be 

 given in gruel. When nothing else is at hand, an injection of oil of 

 turpentine will sometimes promptly check the bleeding. 



E VERSION OF THE WOMB (CASTING THE WITHERS). 



Like flooding, this is the result of failure of the womb to contract 

 after calving. If that organ contracts naturally, the afterbirth is 

 expelled, the internal cavity of the womb is nearly closed, and the 

 mouth of the organ becomes so narrow that the hand can not be 

 forced through, much less the whole mass of the matrix. When, 

 however, it fails to contract, the closed end of one of the horns may 

 fall into its open internal cavity, and under the compression of the 

 adjacent intestines, and the straining and contraction of the abdomi- 

 nal walls, it is forced farther and farther, until the wdiole organ is 

 turned outside in, slides back through the vagina, and hangs from 

 the vulva. The womb can be instantly distinguished from the pro- 

 truding vagina or bladder by the presence, over its whole surface, of 

 50 to 100 mushroomlike bodiei (cotyledons), each 2 to 3 inches 

 in diameter, and attached by a narrow neck. (Pis. XII, XIII.) 

 When fully everted, it is further recognizable by a large, undivided 

 body hanging from the vulva, and two horns or divisions which 

 hang down toward the hocks. In the imperfect e versions the body 

 of the womb may be present with two depressions leading into the 

 two horns. In the cases of some standing the organ has become 

 inflamed and gorged with blood until it is as large as a bushel 

 basket, its surface has a dark-red, bloodlike hue, and tears and 

 bleeds on the slightest touch. Still later lacerations, raw sores, and 

 even gangrene are shown in the mass. At the moment of protrusion 

 the general health is not altered, but soon the inflammation and fever 

 with the violent and continued straining induce exhaustion, and the 

 cow lies down, making no attempt to rise. 



Treatment. — Treatment varies somewhat, according to the degree 

 of the eversion. In partial eversion, with the womb protruding 

 only slightly from the vulva and the cow standing, let an assistant 

 pinch the back to prevent straining while the operator pushes his 

 closed fist into the center of the mass and carries it back through the 

 vagina, assisting in returning the surrounding parts by the other 



