GESTATION. 131 



In the Cow a similar phenomenon may be remarked, though it is not 

 so frequent or prominent as in the Mare. 



The other animals are seldom so irritable in their disposition as to lead 

 any one to notice a similar change in them. 



A tendency to fatten is such a notorious consequence of impregnation, 

 that with the Cow and Sheep graziers usually resort to it in order to get 

 these animals in good condition for market, when they are intended for 

 slaughter. But this aptitude is most marked in the early months of ges- 

 tation ; for in the Cow towards the last three months, and in the Sheep 

 and Pig at the last month, when the mammae begin to enlarge, there is a 

 tendency to lose condition. According to the butchers, there is less in- 

 ternal fat, and the animals altogether are not so heavy as they appear 

 externally, when gestation has advanced. It often happens, particularly 

 with Cows, that the appetite is depraved, the animals eating earth, drink- 

 ing filtljy water, licking wails, and gnawing innutritions substances. 



Coincidentally with the progress of gestation those animals employed 

 • in labor for speed or draught, lose their vigor somewhat, particularly to- 

 wards the end of gestation ; they become "soft," and their paces slower 

 and heavier, requiring more urging to make them perform a certain 

 amount of work. They, if Mares, trot, gallop, and jump with more fatigue, 

 and yield themselves far less readily to inordinate exercise than before : 

 either because their temperament alters, their instinct urges them to pre- 

 serve their progeny, or the foetus itself physically embarrasses them in 

 their movements. 



But this is not always a sure sign ; for sometimes, though rarely. Mares 

 will perform their work with the same energy and speed as before concep- 

 tion, even up to a very brief period before parturition commences. Taken 

 with other signs, nevertheless, this may afford assistance in diagnosing 

 gestation. 



At pasture. Cattle and Sheep are more tranquil, and rest much ; as do 

 also Pigs and Bitches during this period. 



Material Signs. 



The material, physical^ or objective signs are those depending upon the 

 change in volume of the abdomen and the mammcB, the appearance of the 

 milk in the latter, alterations in the composition of ihejirine, and increase 

 in weight of the animal. 



The abdomen enlarges in every direction, and at the same time changes 

 its shape. It descends or " drops," becoming larger inferiorly : the flanks 

 become hollow, and the spine appears more concave in the dorso-sacral 

 region ; while the lateral portions of the croup sink so much as to make 

 the sacrum and haunches towards the root of the tail look more salient. 

 These phenomena are progressively developed as gestation approaches 

 its term, when they are very evident. In the Mare they are irregular in 

 their appearance, commencing three or four months after conception, and 

 do not possess the same value in every instance ; for there are some 

 animals in which the abdomen is scarcely at all unusually developed, and 

 particularly the Mare, which is primiparous, until near parturition ; and 

 others, generally those at pasture, or which have had a number of foals, 

 that always have the belly considerably developed and pendulous, and in 

 which it is difficult to perceive any increase, even when they are in foal. 



Besides, some diseased conditions — as ovarian dropsy, uterine polypus, 



