1 66 PA THOLOG Y OF GESTA TION, 



the animal was fat again. Unfortunately, it was sold to the butcher without the veteri- 

 nary surgeon being allowed the opportunity of examining its carcase after it was killed ; 

 as it would have been interesting to note whether this was a case of primary or second- 

 ary abdominal foetation. Probably in this instance peritonitis was averted by adhesions 

 being formed around the part to which the foetus was attached — the whole mass becom- 

 ing encysted immediately over the abdominal surface where ulceration took place. 



Coquet [Instructiojts Veteri7iaire,vo\. ii.), so long ago as 1784, mentions that a farmer 

 at Neufchatel bought a Cow that appeared to be ill, in the hope of being able to cure it. 

 Instead of amending, however, it became worse, and a profuse diarrhoea set in of serous 

 and putrid matters. It was soon noticed that these ejecta contained hard substances, 

 which were recognized as bones. The farmer brought several of these to Coquet, 

 among which was a cannon-bone, a calcis, several ribs, a portion of a lower jaw, several 

 fragments of the knee anc^ hock, and a maxillary bone. Coquet thought at first that 

 these could only come from the uterus ; but the owner positively assured him that they 

 were passed with the faeces. As the case appeared to be hopeless, the animal was let 

 alone ; it died in about a month, and the following lesions were noted : the colon was 

 much enlarged from its last flexture to the commencement of the rectum — about two 

 and a half feet, and its walls measured more than an inch in thickness ; they were very 

 dense, dark-colored, inflamed, and gangrenous ; the inferior surface was perforated ; 

 and the intestine contained at that part a considerable quantity of bones, similar to those 

 which had been voided, but more voluminous and irregular, like the pelvic bones and 

 those of the spine and head. The uterus was a little larger than in the non-pregnant 

 state, but its fundus, which corresponded to the diseased and perforated intestine, was 

 likewise engorged, indurated, and very thick, though there was no appearance of a cica- 

 trix. The cervix was so contracted that a stylet could not be passed into it, and its 

 cavity, which was empty, could scarcely be discerned. The peritoneum and mesentery 

 in the neighborhood of the affected parts were swollen and inflamed ; while the serosity 

 effused into the pelvic cavity was sanguinolent and putrid. The other viscera were 

 healthy. 



Haubner reports a case recorded by Janke, of a Cow five years old, when in its sev- 

 enth month of pregnancy, gradually losing its appetite, while the size of the abdomen 

 increased. It was supposed to be affected with ascites, and was therefore killed ; when 

 a foetus, contained in its envelopes, was discovered in the abdominal cavity. The uterus 

 had the same appearances as in the non-pr^nant state. The same author mentions 

 the case of a Sheep which had not lambed at the usual time, but which, two months 

 afterwards, exhibited a tumor on the abdomen in which the fore limb of a lamb could 

 be felt. The tumor was opened, the. lamb extracted, and the wound closed by suture. 

 The Sheep recovered and remained in good health. 



Beiiz and Bagge, of the Copenhagen Veterinary School, found in the abdomen of a 

 little Bitch, aged thirteen years, a foetus which appeared to occupy the mesentery of the- 

 small intestines. All the soft parts of the creature had disappeared, and it looked like 

 a skeleton. The Bitch did not show any signs of suffering during life. 



Saussol {Recueil de Med. Veterinaire, 1828) reports that a Ewe, three years old, 

 had been with the Ram like the other Ewes, but never exhibited any signs of preg- 

 nancy. About two months after being with the Ram, the shepherd observed a hard 

 tumor about an inch behind the umbilicus, and which gradually increased in size, until, 

 fifteen or sixteen months after it was. first seen, Saussol was called in. The tumor was 

 then the size of a goose's egg, and felt like an abscess. It was punctured, when a quan- 

 tity of pus escaped, and with it the bones of a foetus. These bones were separated 

 from eaeh other, and were discolored ; the head, however, was entire, ^nd less altered 

 than the other parts. The first incision being enlarged, it was found that the abdom- 

 inal muscles were nearly double their ordinary thickness, and at this particular point 

 formed a pouch in which the foetus was lodged, but covered only by the skin. No com- 

 munication existed between the pouch and the abdominal cavity. The opening was 

 closed by suture and soon healed, but the animal did not thrive and was sold. 



Dickinson, in the Veterinarian (vol. xxviii., p. 196), relates the case of a Sow which 

 he was called in to attend. The animal had been ill for some time, and its period of 

 gestation had expired four weeks previously; though as no indications of approaching 

 parturition were noticeable, it was supposed a mistake had been made in the date. 

 The symptoms were : loss of appetite, obstinate constipation, a peculiar or painful 

 grunt, and lying on the left side with a limb extended, as if to relieve the abdomen from 

 the weight. When standing it would support itself by leaning against the wall, and 

 then gradually drop down as easily as possible. A hard mass could be distinctly felt on 

 manipulating the abdomen, especially towards the left side ; the pain on pressure was 

 intense. Medical treatment was of no avail, and on the fourth day it succumbed. _ At 

 the autopsy, the peritoneal membrane was found to be inflamed, the visceral portions 

 being most affected. The uterus had been seriously injured, evidently by the operation 



