GESTATION. 127 



The udder increases notably in volume, and it and the teats are tense. 

 In the carnivora, the prominences of the mammae, especially the ventral 

 ones, are increased by two rows of elevations on each side of the linea 

 alba, which correspond to the portions of the cornua in which the young 

 are being developed, and where they form projections on the wall of 

 their sac. 



The increase in volume and the various changes which the gravid 

 uterus undergoes, bring about alterations in and frequently derangement 

 of certain functions in the animal. Fortunately, however, these altera- 

 tions are slow and gradual ; so that the different organs concerned 

 generally adapt themselves to their changed condition without much 

 inconvenience. The animal becomes lazy and slower in movement, and 

 is more desirous of quiet and tranquillity as gestation advances. These 

 indications are observed at an early period. At the same time the 

 abdomen enlarges and changes its shape : it becomes rounded and 

 projects below, and on each side bevond the crural region, while the 

 flanks become hollow, the croup and thighs wasted-looking, and the 

 sacrum and external tuberosities of the ilium more salieni. 



In the domesticated animals there are not observed those disturbances 

 in the digestive organs so marked at the commencement of pregnancy 

 in woman. On the contrary, immediately after conception, possibly 

 because oestrum has disappeared, the appetite is increased, digestion is 

 easier, and all the formative phenomena seem to acquire increased 

 activity ; more use appears to be made of the food in the economy, and 

 there is a notable tendency to fatten. This tendency has been taken 

 advantage of by breeders and feeders of animals which are destined 

 more for food than reproduction ; and those intended for slaughter are 

 usually rendered pregnant, and fed until about the middle period of ges- 

 tation, when they have reached their most favorable condition : as towards 

 the last period this tendency vanishes, and wasting is more apparent, due 

 to the increased demands of the foetus and the enlargement of the 

 mammary glands. 



In some cases, however, and particularly with the Cow, the appetite 

 becomes somewhat depraved, the animals eating soil, gnawing the walls 

 or woodwork of their stable, drinking foul water, etc. 



With the increased bulk of the uterus, as has been observed, the 

 abdominal and thoracic organs experience more or less the effects of the 

 compression it exercises on them. The diaphragm is pushed forward, 

 and diminishes the capacity of the thorax, and the expansibility of the 

 lungs ; the ribs, encumbered by the weight of the foetus, are raised with 

 difficulty by the muscles of inspiration, so that respiration is frequent and 

 shallow, and the creature is readily "blown" and fatigued. Digestion 

 is a little impaired and tardy, and slight constipation is not rare. The 

 strain induced by the uterus on the vagina, and indirectly on the neck of 

 the bladder, causes attempts at micturition to be more frequent ; while 

 the compression on the liver, vena portae and vena cava, explains the 

 mechanical obstruction to the circulation and consequent oedema, par- 

 ticularly in the Mare. 



In addition to all this, the blood is more or less modified. Its abso- 

 lute quantity is not diminished ; on the contrary, it may be increased to 

 a certain extent ; but its corpuscles diminish in number in a very percep- 

 tible manner, giving rise to a serous plethora more allied to anaemia than 

 any thing else. 



