i88 PA THOLOGY OF GESTA TION. 



did not appear. Another exploration per vaginam, proved that it was impossible to 

 induce parturition, as only one finger could be introduced into the os. Twenty-four 

 hours afterwards, another exploration was made, when Vernant was surprised to find 

 the OS so dilated that he could feel some cotyledons, which led him to believe that he 

 could effect delivery. On introducing his right arm deeper, however, he was aston- 

 ished to discover it enveloped by the membranes only, without meeting with any trace 

 of the foetus ; exploration of the horns did not discover it, and it was only by a most 

 careful investigation that he satisfied himself that the membranes were displaced, tense 

 as if something was hanging to them, and that there was no liquor amnii ; while the 

 cavity of the uterus itself would scarcely contain a man's head. Vernant then surmised 

 that this was a case of extra-uterine gestation ; though he was not quite satisfied, as the 

 presence and development of the foetal membranes rather proved the contrary. In 

 order to solve the enigma, the inextricable mesh of membranes was torn, and the cavity 

 of the uterus reached; then, at the part which offered most obstacles, he contrived to 

 pass a finger, and then his hand, into a diverticulum or rent, through which the mem- 

 branes passed. Following these, the hand went into a large cavity in the left flank, 

 where nothing could be felt. Turning over the animal on the right side, with external 

 assistance he managed to feel the head, a fore limb, and then the abdomen of the foetuS; 

 which was in a transverse position — the head in the left flank of the Cow, and the belly 

 at the pelvic inlet. He drew the head and limb towards him, but could not reach the 

 other fore leg ; to do this would have required an arm four or five feet long. Diagnos- 

 ing a rupture of the uterus, and seeing that the Cow was about to succumb, the 

 butcher was sent for. Next day the carcase was examined. There was an enormous 

 male foetus, weighing 65 kilogrammes, and as large as a two-months' old calf, with an 

 extraordinary large head, neck, and belly, and deformed pelvis ; in its stomach was 

 about 20 litres of clear fluid like water, and odorless ; the abdomen contained a con- 

 siderable quantity of sanguinolent serum, and putrefaction was commencing in the 

 viscera. The uterus of the Cow was remarkably contracted, and at the commencement 

 of the left horn, near the body of the organ, the outer border showed a somewhat regu- 

 lar rent more than three inches long, with red infiltrated edges. The cotyledons ap- 

 peared to be healthy, and were everywhere covered by their placentulae. The origin of 

 the accident was ascribed to the large size of the foetus, which, lodged in one of the 

 horns, deranged the digestion, and the walls of the part becoming thinner, at last rup- 

 tured to a slight extent ; the weight of the foetus gradually dilated the rent, through 

 which it slowly passed, until it fell into the peritoneal cavity, carrying with it the foetal 

 membranes, which maintained their relations with the maternal cotyledons. The uterus 

 must have retracted immediately, and thus masked the rupture during the exploration. 

 The foetus, too, must have lived for some time after its change of location ; though it is 

 not improbable that, in its struggles, it swallowed a large portion of the liquor amnii. 



10. In the Veterinarian (vol. vii., p. 39) Mr. King describes a case of rupture of the 

 uterus, and the escape of the foetus into the abdominal cavity. The cause of the rup- 

 ture was supposed to be the swollen and "puffed-up " condition of the foetus. 



11. In the same journal (vol. xix., p. 624) Mr. Cox states that he visited a Cow in a 

 serious condition ; there was a peculiar heavy groaning, particularly when the animal 

 was lying ; tympanum of the rumen and abdomen ; the faeces were liquid, black, and 

 offensive, and voided with tenesmus ; mouth cold, and rigors ; mucous membranes pal- 

 lid. The animal died, and when opened the calf was found among the intestines, the 

 uterus ruptured, and the peritoneum inflamed. It was within five weeks of calving ; 

 the foetus was healthy and well developed, and appeared to have been alive up to the 

 time of the rupture. No cause could be discovered for the accident. The same veter- 

 inarian alludes to a similar accident occurring in a Mare, through unusual exertion in 

 draught when within a month of foaling. She died in twelve hours from internal haem- 

 orrhage. 



12. M.-AC%\\X\six?i^ (Veterinary yotcrnal, 1876, p. 249) was requested to visit a two- 

 year-old Cow in the seventh month of pregnancy, which was very uneasy, and showing 

 slight calving pains, He found immense distention of the abdomen, with a slight but 

 thick reddish-brown discharge from the vagina. From the symptoms, it was supposed 

 that a dead calf was about to be expelled, and a vaginal examination was accordingly 

 made. ' The os was slightly dilated, and a portion of the foetal membranes as large as 

 the fist lay in the vaginal canal ; on rupturing and removing this, it was discovered to 

 be part of the chorion with two placentulae attached. Very little fluid escaped, and the 

 *•' pains " were scarcely at all present. The os only admitted three fingers, and it could 

 not be dilated ; one finger pushed through it came in contact with a foetus. Explora- 

 tion of the cervix afterwards did not produce any straining, and the os remained rigid. 

 The case being deemed hopeless, the animal was killed. When the abdominal cavity 

 was laid open, an extraordinary quantity of a nearly transparent and slightly yellow- 

 colored fluid escaped. There was an immense rupture in the fundus of the uterus, to- 



