i82 PATHOLOGY OF GESTATION. 



CHAPTER III. 



Accidents of Pregnancy, 



Though a distinction between the diseases and accidents of pregnancy 

 cannot always be readily drawn, yet for convenience we follow Saint-Cyr, 

 in allotting to a separate chapter those conditions or diseases which may 

 be due to accidental causes, operating either externally or internally. 

 These are prolapsus of the vagifia, hernia of the utei'us, rupture of the 

 uterus, tnetrorrhagia, abnormal retention of thefeetus, and abortion. 



Ante-Partum Prolapsus of the Vagina. 



Prolapsus vagince, or inversio vagitice, has only been observe^, so far as 

 I can ascertain, most frequently in the Cow and Sheep ; rarely in the 

 Mare or Bitch. It consists in the protrusion of the vagina by the uterus 

 and its contents during pregnancy, the tumor it forms appearing between 

 {inversio vagince. incompleta), or external to {iJiversio vagina co77ipletd), the 

 labia of the vulva. It must not be confounded with post-partum pro- 

 lapsus. This accident is peculiar to pregnancy, and may occur in well- 

 shaped Cows, but whose tissues, and especially those of the genital 

 organs, are soft and relaxed : animals of a lymphatic temperament, good 

 milkers, with a wide pelvis, and which are fed on an abundance of bulky 

 but innutritions food. Keeping such Cows on a floor sloping too much 

 to the rear, as well as falls, injuries of different kinds, distention of 

 the rumen, fatigue, etc., are all likely to lead to this accident in such ani- 

 mals, when pregnant. It is observed, though very rarely, in primiparae, 

 and occurs most frequentl}'' after the third or fourth gestation, the period 

 of its appearance during that state varying : in certain Cows manifesting 

 itself so early as the fifth month (though this is rare), and oftenest at the 

 end of the seventh or eighth month, and even so late as twenty or fifteen 

 days before delivery. 



The occurrence of the accident is made known by the appearance, at 

 the vulva, of a circular, bright-red tumor, depressed in the centre, and of 

 a variable but gradually increasing size, as gestation advances, or the 

 exciting causes remain in operation — from the volume of a fist to that of 

 the head of a child or man, or even larger. At first it is only visible 

 when the animal is lying, and disappears when' it gets up ; but when of 

 considerable volume it never entirely vanishes in the latter attitude, and 

 even when reduced by the hand the vulva remains larger than usual. 



This prolapsus, in the majority of cases, does not appear to cause the 

 slightest inconvenience to the animal, and offers no obstacle to par- 

 turition — indeed, it has been noted that such Cows calve more easily than 

 others ; neither does it predispose to chronic eversion of the vagina, as 

 has often been supposed. After calving, the vaginal tumor disappears 

 without any treatment being required. 



With some young, fidgety Cows, however, when the tumor is volumin- 

 ous, often recurs, and the animal is feeble, expulsive efforts increase its 

 size and irritate it ; and thus give rise to more or less derangement 

 of health, constituting a serious accident. Loyer has noted three deaths 

 in thirty-six instances recorded by him. 



According to Cox ( Veterinary journal, vol. i., p, 267), Sheep, when 

 heavy in lamb, frequently evert a double fold of the vaginal mucous mem- 



