642 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OP THE OX. 



Some of the following remarks, and also the pictures, are 

 taken by permission from ** A Lecture on the Anatomy and Phy- 

 siology of the Maternal Organs of Eeproduction in Animals, 

 with the Principles of Practice applicable to Cases of DifiBcult 

 and Preternatural Labour, more especially in the Cow and 

 Ewe," by James Beart Simonds, late Principal and Lecturer on 

 Cattle Pathology of the Royal Veterinary College. 



The cavity of the pelvis is enclosed by the bones constituting 

 the hips and buttocks {vide figare appended below), and it is to 

 be borne in mind that the size of this cavity is materially con- 

 nected both with the rapidity and with the safety of the act of 

 parturition. 



h 



Fig. 83. 



The above figure well shows the pelvic cavity of a cow, and the bones which 

 bound it, their relative connection with each other, and the way in which they 

 form the opening through which the foetus passes in delivery. 



a. The pelvic cavity, b. The sacruna, a continuation of the spine, c, c. 

 The projections, called the hips. </, d. The bony prominences of the buttocks. 



Many an animal has been lost owing to its pelvis being too 

 narrow to allow of an easy and safe delivery. Hence the 

 practical breeder should always bear in mind that, when the 

 hips are narrow, the buttocks compressed together, and the 

 spine drooping, the size of the pelvic cavity must be small, 

 and parturition thereby rendered more dangerous. 



In the first place we must say a few words in reference to the 

 organs and structures concerned in the process of generation in 

 the cow. These, as in the case of most higher animals, consist 

 of the vagina, the uterus and Fallopian tubes, and the ovaries, 

 together with their several appendages. The vagina is a tube or 

 canal leading from the exterior to the uterus. It is a mem- 



