ACCIDENTS OF PREGNANCY. 187 



given up as useless, and the abdomen was examined externally. The " touch " of the 

 right flank did not reveal any thing, but that of the left discovered a hard voluminous 

 body, which was surmised to be the missing foetus. The Caesarean operation was pro- 

 posed by Boizy, but the owner would not allow it. The Cow died and was buried, 

 but Boizy had it exhumed three days afterwards ; though the autopsy was not so satis- 

 factory as he could have desired, owing to this interval. He could only note that 

 the foetus was in the abdomen, and that, notwithstanding this change of domicile, there 

 were indications that it had continued to live as long as the Cow ; it had long frizzled 

 hair, two incisors were apparent, and the horn of the hoofs was of a greenish color. The 

 cause of the accident could not be discovered. 



6. Dupont [yournal des Vet. dii Midi, 1849, P- 497) informs us that a farmer bought a 

 pregnant Sheep, which soon after purchase showed signs of abortion, though the foetus 

 was not expelled. In two months, a considerable tumor formed a little to the right of 

 the umbilicus ; this suppurated, and from the abscess the four limbs of a foetus, minus 

 the pasterns, were expelled ; then the wound cicatrized. Three and a half months later, 

 another tumor appeared at the same place, and this likewise opened, but it only gave 

 exit to faeces. The Sheep was then given to Dupont, who kept it for some time, then 

 had it killed in order to study the lesions. On opening the abdomen, the caecum was 

 found to be verj' much enlarged, had somewhat the shape of a horse's stomach, and 

 was closely adherent to the abdominal muscles ; it offered four openings, the first of 

 which was at the middle of the lower part, corresponding to the opening in the abdo- 

 men, and from which the faeces were passed. Two other openings were in the intestine 

 only, but the fourth communicated with the right cornu of the uterus, which adhered in 

 the most intimate manner to the caecum. The uterus contained aL small quantity of 

 greyish-colored foul-smelling fluid, in which floated some small bones, chiefly the first 

 phalanges of the fore limbs. The vagina was completely twisted from left to right, 

 and Dupont was of opinion that this was the cause of the lesions described. The 

 cause of- the vaginal torsion, however, could not be ascertained. 



7. Legrain (Annales de Med. Vet. de Bruxelles, 1865, p. 124) relates that a laborer 

 having quarrelled with his employer, revenged himself on a poor she-goat which was 

 pregnant, by kicking it violently on the belly. In consequence of this injury, the animal 

 lost its appetite, passed blood per vagittam, was ill for ten days, and then all the phe- 

 nomena of gestation disappeared ; the milk was suppressed, there were alternations 

 of appetite and inappetence, and the creature became terribly emaciated. Neverthe- 

 less, in six months the health was so far re-established that oestrum appeared. It was 

 put to the male, though without result, and it did not again manifest "heat." A year 

 subsequent to the accident, Legrain was asked to look at it, as " it had a hole in front of 

 the teat." There, undoubtedly, was a circular opening about ten contimetres in width, 

 through which this veterinarian extracted two incomplete foetuses in process of decom- 

 position. A sponge steeped in cold water was introduced into the sac whence they had 

 been withdrawn, the wound was cleaned and dressed in the same manner on the follow- 

 ing days, and in three weeks the animal had recovered, though the udder remained 

 atrophied. 



8. Schmelz [Annales de Med. Vet. de Bruxelles, 1859, p. 382) mentions the case of a 

 Cow which was eight weeks beyond the period of calving, and was constantly lying, 

 without making any attempt to get up. It was killed, when all the viscera were dis- 

 covered to be healthy, and a fully-devdoped foetus, surrounded by its membranes, lay 

 in the abdomen. The uterus was completely detached at about six centimetres from 

 the cervix, and the margin of the wound was already cicatrized. The foetus, envelopes, 

 and detached uterus exhaled a most offensive odor, and were putrefied. There was no 

 tract of liquor amnii. The reason for this rupture of the uterus could not be discov- 

 ered. 



9. On May 21, 1874, Vernant [Recueil de Med, Veterinaire, 1874, p. 924) attended a 

 Cow eight years old, which had arrived near the termination of gestation, and could 

 not eat, groaned constantly, and was tympanitic. It lay on the right side in a natural 

 way ; the belly was enormously large laterally, but the tympanitic distention was on the 

 left ; loss of appetite, continual groans heard at some distance, eyes sunk, pulse imper- 

 ceptible, and the skin and limbs hot ; the foetus felt at the lower part of the abdomen 

 on the left side, but no movement perceived in it ; constriction of the cervix uteri, 

 which, in consequence of the tvmpanitis, was only about four inches from the vulva ; 

 the animal could not get up. Fifteen days previously it had been treated for supposed 

 indigestion by quacks, but it gradually became emaciated and weak, and lost its appe- 

 tite. A few days before Vernant was called in, the owner was astonished at the ap- 

 parent, but gradual, descent of the foetus in the left flank, and this, coupled with the 

 condition, caused him to think that calving was about to take place. Seeing that the 

 tympanitis was producing serious effects, the rumen was punctured and a quantity of 

 gas escaped ; the animal was relieved, but the groaning did not cease, and the pulse 



