1 64 PA THOL OG Y OF GESTA TION. 



terior parts extended as far back as the ensiform cartilage, and the uniting medium was 

 very firm. The left side, from the third cervical vertebra to the tail, was imbedded in 

 the omentum. The hind extremities were firmly fixed to each other, also to the abdo- 

 men : being, in fact, quite immovable. The fore extremities were attached to each 

 other as far down as the carpus, and thence by bands of lymph to the lower surface of 

 the neck. The nose of the foetus was twisted to one side ; there were no eyes ; the 

 ears were small, and fixed to the occiput, being in texture like the parotid gland; the 

 spine was curved, and the tail fixed between the hind legs; the anterior maxillary bones 

 were alone covered with wool ; the abdominal muscles were very thick ; the spleen, 

 pancreas, kidneys, and bladder, as well as the rectum, were all absent, and the sex could 

 not be distinguished. It weighed within an ounce of five pounds. In the Ewe, the 

 cervix of the uterus was obliterated by small excrescences, " of the character and 

 appearance of the inner surface of that organ. The animal had never exhibited any 

 unusual symptoms, except that she had proved barren in the previous spring, having 

 been with the ram before then." 



The same journal (vol. xxix., p. 344) alludes to a good-sized, fully-formed lamb, found 

 in what appeared to be a tumor or bag attached to the rumen of a fat Sheep killed for 

 food. The skin of the foetus was covered with wool where it had not been torn in pro- 

 cess of removal from its adherences. The uterus of the Ewe was small, and there was 

 no evidence of rupture. 



Gurlt (Pathol. Anatomic, 1831) describes an instance of abdominal gestation in a 

 Sheep, in which the maternal placenta was attached to the mesentery ; and Plot alludes to 

 a similar occurrence in a Bitch, the foetal membranes adhering to the mesentery and kid- 

 neys; while Fornari mentions a placenta formed on the rumen of a Goat. Below gives 

 a detailed description of a mummy (/////(?/^fl'/£'«) weighing 1870 grammes, which was 

 found in the abdominal cavity of a Sheep. 



A very interesting notice, one of the most recent, is given by Baillet [Rectieil de Med. 

 Veterinaire, 1875, p. 26). As inspector of the abbatoir at Bourdeaux, his attention was 

 called to the carcase of a six-year old Cow, in very fine condition, which had just been 

 slaughtered. On opening the abdomen, an ovoid mass, not unlike in appearance the 

 manyplus of the stomach, appeared at the anterior part of the right sac of the rumen ; 

 it had formed adhesions with the omentum, rumen, diaphragm, liver, and right hypo- 

 chondrium. When detached it measured 18 by 14 inches in diameter, and weighed 45 

 pounds. It was of a nacrous white hue, and provided with numerous firm, membranous 

 prolongations of a red color ; a hard rounded body could be felt within it. When cut, 

 it was found to be a sac, the wall of which was about one-fifth of an inch thick, and firm 

 and resisting. No trace of vascularization could be made out on its inner surface, which 

 adhered to a dead foetus so tenaciously, that some degree of force was required to destroy 

 the intimacy existing between it and the hair on the dorso-lumbar region of the calf. A 

 small quantity of turbid, yellow, colorless fluid, in which floated some debris of horn 

 and some hairs, occupied the bottom of the sac. There were no proper foetal envelopes, 

 and the creature appeared to have been grafted on the inner face of this fibrous cham- 

 ber. It was a full-time foetus ; though by its general development it looked as if arrested 

 by the limited space in which it had been enclosed. Bent longitudinally, its head was 

 fixed between the fore legs. The surface of the body was covered by slightly humid 

 hair, which was easily removed, particularly within the arms and thighs, where the skin 

 was cf alight yellow color. The compression it had undergone had produced a general 

 flattening of the muscles; the eyelids were quite distinct, though there w^as not a vestige 

 of eyes ; a shred of umbilical cord, black and withered, still remained. There was no 

 unpleasant smell, even when the body was opened. Thevicera were dry and looked as 

 if macerated ; the muscles were pale, but firm ; and the bones were intact, their extremi- 

 ties being provided with a cartilaginous covering. The uterus of the Cow, though care- 

 fully examined, offered no evidence in explanation of this abnormal gestation. Some 

 corpora lutea \td to the supposition that it had been bred from, or at least that its 

 ovaries had been the seat of the process which accompanies fecundation. There was 

 nothing in the condition of the Cow's carcase to indicate that this strange state had 

 caused it any suffering or inconvenience. 



Professor Stockfleth, of Copenhagen, describes another instance ( Tidsskrift for Ve- 

 terinitrer, 1875) of a Cow in which, after it had been slaughtered for food, a large round 

 tumpr Avas found in the abdominal cavity. This tumor was attached by a cord to the 

 abdomen, and it contained a foetus covered by a dense white membrane, through which 

 the dark-brown epidermis retaining the hair appeared, but which came off with the 

 covering. The calf lay rolled up with its head and feet together, and was in every 

 respect normal. The uterus of the Cow was contracted in a natural manner, and one 

 of the ovaries, which was somewhat larger than usual, contained a corpus luteum. 

 There was no connection between the uterus and the membranes surrounding the foetus, 

 neither had the membranes any cotyledons. 



