STERILITY. 



^l 



sev^ere gallop, and brings her almost breathless before the stallion, when, 

 the act being accomplished, he leaves her quietly at rest for some hours. 



Various diseased conditions of the generative or other organs, as well as 

 general derangements, may also prove antagonistic to fecundity. There 

 may be disease or alterations in the ovaries. Fallopian tubes, uterus, or 

 vagina, which will hinder conception ; and if any material obstacle to the 

 contact of the spermatic fluid with the ovule be present in these parts, 

 fecundation cannot take place. Tumors of various kinds in this region 

 are not an infrequent cause of sterility. 



Rueff and others have observed an imperforate, dense, and tough 

 hymen to be a cause of infecundity in the Mare. 



In all these conditions a careful examination should be made, as removal 

 of the obstacle to generation may be quite within the scope of surgical or 

 medical measures. More particularly is this the case when the obstacle 

 is related to some abnormal condition of the cervix uteri — a circumstance 

 more common than is generally supposed. 



Occlusion of the canal leading to the cavity of the uterus — the os — has 

 been known as a cause of sterility in the Mare and Cow from the earliest 

 times. This occlusion may be complete during coition, and prove fatal 

 to conception ; it may be due merely to a spasmodic condition of the 

 Vnuscles of the cervix. The oiled hand should be introduced into the 

 vagina to ascertain the state of the part ; when, if the closure is suspected 

 to be owing to muscular defect, the cervix may be smeared with extract 

 of belladonna. If, however, this does not exceed, or if there be hyper- 

 trophy, disorganization, or rigidity, then an operation will be necessary. 

 Hypertrophy from plastic exudation, and the formation of false mem- 

 branes, is a frequent cause of sterility, and usually occurs during or after 

 the first birth, particularly in the Cow. In many cases the morbid closure 

 of the OS can be remedied in a very safe and simple manner. The animal 

 is secured — if a Mare by the " side-line," if a Cow by fastening the two 

 hind legs together, though not too close — and the oiled hand, in the form 

 of a cone, passed up the vagina to the cervix in a half-rotary or screwing 

 manner ; on reaching this, the tips of the fingers are to be gently insinu- 

 ated, by the same movement, into the os, and pushed on until the cavity 

 of the uterus is reached. A simple sound, well greased, and the size of 

 an ordinary catheter, may be employed with the same object as the fin- 

 gers, and appears to answer quite as well. Various instruments have 

 been devised to dilate the cervix, but nothing is equal to the fingers or 

 the sound. The animal may be put to the male on the same or the fol- 

 lowing day. This simple operation for the cure of sterility has been very 

 often practised, and is well known to the Arabs of the Sahara, who treat 

 their barren Mares in this manner, and in the majority of cases with 

 success. 



In rare instances dilatation may require to be effected by a cutting 

 instrument, but this should never be resorted to until the simpler and safer 

 means have failed. 



Disease of the mucous membranes, with altered secretions, must be 

 treated according to their indications. 



