ACCIDENTS OF PREGNANCY. 



i8S 



others swollen and inflamed. The texture of the uterus itself, in the 

 vicinity of the rupture, may be quite healthy, or it may be inflamed, soft- 

 ened, or gangrenous ; while the peritoneum is normal or inflamed. The 

 blood effused into the abdominal cavity may be in large quantity or 

 scarcely noticeable, and it may or may not be decomposed. 



According as the tissue of the uterus is more or less completely torn, 

 the ruptures have been divided into those which are " complete " and 

 "incomplete." In the first, the cavity of the organ communicates freely 

 with that of the abdomen ; while in the second, the peritoneum, or some- 

 times a portion of the muscular layer, is intact. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms of rupture of the uterus are not well de- 

 fined. If there has been straining, in the majority of cases this ceases 

 altogether or diminishes ; sometimes blood or blood-colored fluid flows 

 from the vagina, though this symptom is rare. The physiognomy of the 

 animal changes ; at the same time it becomes restless, often the limbs 

 are cold, the pulse small or imperceptible ; a cold perspiration covers the 

 body ; the animal sighs or moans, is affected with dyspncea, is greatly 

 agitated, and intense debility sets in. The symptoms are violent and 

 marked as the accident is sudden and severe. If the foetus has passed 

 into the cavity of the abdomen, it may be felt there ; and there may also 

 be an alteration in the shape of the abdomen. Vaginal exploration 

 generally reveals alterations of a distinctive character — sometimes even 

 the rupture may be detected, and the absence of the foetus from the uterus 

 noted. When the rupture is small and takes place gradually, the symp- 

 toms are sometimes little marked, and a diagnosis is more difficult. 



Results. — Rupture of the uterus is sometimes followed in the gravid 

 state by fatal haemorrhage, peritonitis (particularly in the Mare), or the 

 results described in extra-uterine gestation. Recovery may occur either 

 by surgical interference, or by the aid of nature alone. When the organ 

 contracts the dimensions of the rupture are reduced, and tears in the 

 upper portions are very much less serious than those in the lower surface, 

 for obvious reasons. 



Saint-Cyr has given an analysis of some published cases, to which I 

 have added others more recent. 



1. In 1808. Anfri [Correspondence sur les Animatix Domestiques,-\^-xr Fromage de 

 Feugre, vol. iii., p. 179) was called upon to attend a Cow which had. been attempting to 

 calve for two days. When he saw it, its efforts had ceased, and it was greatly pros- 

 trated ; the hand introduced into the uterus could not discover the foetus. Death occur- 

 red on the night of the third and fourth day, without any thing having been detected 

 which could have prevented delivery. On examination of the body, the foetal fluids 

 were found in the abdominal cavity, as well as the foetus itself. They had escaped by 

 a large oblique rent in the fundus of the organ ; while the left cornu'was also torn for 

 one half of its length. The cause of the mishap could not be ascertained; the animal 

 had been straining violently for two days, and a quack had attempted to deliver it. 



2. Vatel [Journal Pratique de Med. Vet., 1827 ) reports that a Cow in a very bad state, 

 was sent to the Alfort School on April 25. It could scarcely walk, and there escaped 

 from the vulva glairy, blood-colored, odorless matter ; the condition of the animal was 

 serious. On manipulating the abdominal wall, there was felt a hard resisting body. 

 The Cow did not strain, and gradually became weaker until the night of the 28th, when 

 it succumbed. The abdomen was found to contain about 15 litres of blood-tinted 

 serosity ; the omentum was g^t^.\\y t\\\Qk.&nQ.d., and adhesiojis were observed on its visceral 

 surface corresponding to the processes of the placenta ; the peritoneum showed traces of 

 intense inflammation; while the' foetus lay on the floor of the abdomen, from which it 



