ANOMALIES IN GESTA TION. 



165 



The length of time during which these extra-uterine foetuses may be re- 

 tained, varies according to circumstances. In the human species, a case 

 is recorded in which the foetus remained in the abdomen for fifty-six 

 years ; and a great many instances are published in which retention has 

 continued from three months up to the last-named period. In animals, 

 this retention of the misplaced foetus may also continue for a long time \ 

 and though death usually occurs if delivery is delayed much beyond the 

 the usual period of pregnancy, yet development appears to progress in 

 the ordinary manner, and subject to the laws of normal gestation. It is 

 indeed astonishing to find the ovum fix itself, and become developed into 

 the embryo and foetus, by drawing nourishment in "the strange situation 

 in which it chances to fall : the placenta, cord, and envelopes being pres- 

 ent just as if it had found its way into the natural receptacle. It does 

 not appear to be quite decided whether the ovum, in primary abdominal 

 foetation, receives an additional covering analogous to the decidua ; 

 though it is very probable that it does, and that this membrane may per- 

 form a similar office in the nutrition of the foetus. The part of the ab- 

 dominal or other surface to which the ovum adheres, receives an in- 

 creased vascular supply for the occasion, its vicarious function being as 

 actively carried on as if it were the lining membrane of the uterus. 



Not unfrequently, retention is brought to a termination by the death of 

 the parent, through the disordered state of health induced by the living 

 foetus, or through absorption of the septic matter it engenders, if putre- 

 faction sets in after its decease. On other occasions, and these are com- 

 paratively not very unfrequent in the lower animals, an effort is' made by 

 nature to get rid of what really in time becomes a foreign body by arti- 

 ficial openings. In these cases the foetus may be passed whole or by 

 fragments through the abdominal parietes, the intestines, or the vagina 

 — in almost every case the former, owing to the quadrupedal position of 

 ,the domesticated animals. Several occurrences of this kind are to be 

 found in the literature of Veterinary Science ; but we will notice only the 

 following in this place : 



M. Drouard [Recueil de Med. Veterinaire, 1842) reports that a Sheep -which had 

 lambed the preceding year without any accident, was, at its second gestatron, seized 

 with sudden but unavailing throes of parturition. Nothing appeared ; the os uteri re- 

 mained closed, and the waters did not escape. The animal continued in this state for 

 three or four days, after which the symptoms subsided, and in a month they had disap- 



jeared. About this time, however, the appetite became lessened, rumination began to 

 irregularly performed, the strength was diminished, and the animal often lay for a 



)ng time. For fifteen days it remained in this state, very dull, the eyes sunk. in their 

 orbits, the respiration frequent, and the pulse almost imperceptible. An cedematous 

 swelling appeared beneath the belly, and the skin at this part was cold and brown col- 

 ored. Scarifications made in it permitted the discharge of a foul-smelling sanguineous 

 fluid, indicative of gangrene. Finally, ulceration set in over this swelling, and soon a 

 foetus covered with wool showed itself : this was extracted after enlarging the opening. 

 It was in an advanced stage of decomposition, and in the abdomen of the mother it lay 

 with the head and fore limbs towards the pelvis, the croup being inclined towards the 

 diaphragm. It was extracted by the fore part of the body, and the opening was closed 

 by suture, leaving only an orifice for the escape of the pus • a retaining bandage around 

 the body to support the sutures, applications to the skin, and diffusible stimulants in- 

 ternally, was the treatment. As the appetite did not return for eight days, tonic and 

 nourishing draughts were administered. After this period it rallied, but there was an 

 abundant discharge of pus ; the orifice through which it flowed enlarged, and at last gave 

 exit to the after-birth, as well as a portion of the omentum, which was of a deep reddish- 

 brown tint, and had to be excised. The gangrenous condition of the wound also de- 

 manded attention ; the margins were pared, and new sutures employed. By attention 

 and careful nursing the wound had cicatrized by the forty-fifth day, and in six months 



