158 PATHOLOGY OF GESTATION. 



matter, which was so hard that it could scarcely be cut through — a circumstance that 

 appeared to explain the impossibility of delivery. 



Hering [Repert. fiir Thierheilkunde, Jahrgang ix., p. i), alludes to instances of super- 

 foetation in the Cow and. Sheep. 



In the Memotres of the Veterinary Society of Calvados, vol. ii., M. Lemaitre describes 

 the case of a Mare which aborted on December 2, and on the following June brought 

 forth a foal which continued to live. Trelut, in the Jourttal des Velerviaircs diK Midi 

 for 1844, mentions a Mare, eleven years old, which was put to the Horse on April 23, on 

 the 4th, 6th, and 25th of May, and again on June 5, 1845. ^^ December this Mare 

 received some kicks on the belly and flank from a Horse, but this did not impair her 

 health. On March i it slipped up, and on thei 5th it aborted two foals without suffering 

 any ill effects. The first foal had the tongue protruding from the mouth, the mucous mem- 

 branes were very pale, the hair of body and mane and tail were present, the eyes were 

 closed, the skin was colorless and looking as if macerated, and the hair was easily 

 removed ; the blood-vessels only contained a few drops of pale blood ; and the muscles, 

 pale and flaccid, did not show any signs of decomposition. The second foal had the 

 skin smooth and shining, but no trace of hair ; the eyes were open ; the mucous mem- 

 branes bright red ; the muscles firm and red ; and the heart and vessels filled with red 

 blood. 



Cauzit, in the yoiirnal de Med. Veterinaires de Lyoti for 1859, gives an instance of super- 

 foetation in a Mare, fecundation having occurred at an interval of eight days ; and Cha- 

 baud, in the Journal des Vet du Midi for 1859, mentions another case, in which fecunda- 

 tion must have occurred at fifteen days' interval. 



One of the most recent cases is reported from the United States of 

 America. 



On the 20th of February, 1876, a five-year-old Mare belonging William Driesbach, of 

 Sparta, N. Y., foaled a dead colt, fully developed and otherwise promising in those points 

 which go to make up a good Horse. The Mare appeared to be well, and to the surprise 

 of her owner, on the 2d of April following, six weeks after the birth of her foal, gave 

 birth to another colt, which was sound, healthy, well developed, and in all respects as 

 promising a colt as could be found in the state. 



From the facts already accumulated it may, then, be concluded that 

 superfcetation in the Mare may occur, and indeed has occurred, several 

 times. It has been argued against these facts that superfcetation is im- 

 possible, because a Mare that has once conceived would be exceedingly 

 liable to abortion if submitted to a second copulation ; but it is more 

 than doubtful that abortion should be the inevitable consequence of re- 

 peated copulation ; and we have the human species to adduce in proof of 

 the comparative innocuousness of sexual intercourse during pregnancy. 

 So far as researches have gone, however, it must be confessed that these 

 double conceptions have only occurred in uniparous animals by successive 

 copulations on the same day, or within a few days ; and we are therefore 

 without any indication that this could occur in them at longer intervals. 

 This, it will be evident, is no very strong, proof of superfcetation having 

 taken place ; for in the case of the mule and horse foal, it only proves 

 that a double conception may occur from intercourse with two different 

 animals within a very short period. If a longer period — say three or four- 

 months — intervened, then superfcetation would be admissible, and would 

 perhaps be undeniable, provided there was nothing abnormal in the 

 uterus — such as a double organ. 



Rainard remarks that torsion of the neck of the uterus in the Cow, 

 though preventing the birth of the foetus, may nevertheless permit new 

 conceptions. With inversion of the uterus and torsion of the cervix, 

 parturition is impossible ; so that instead of attempting to deliver by a 

 sanguinary and dangerous operation, the success of which is very doubt- 

 ful, the animal, if not killed for consumption as food, is generally left to 



