ACCIDENTS OF PREGNANCY. 197 



in them fifteen to twenty hours after escape of the liquor, and the crea- 

 ture has respired and lived. He thinks that the popular opinion is due to 

 the fact, that the attention of the obstetrist is solely directed to preserving 

 the life of the mother, and that the foetus is killed through the violent 

 compression it sustains in a narrow pelvis, from the powerful contractions 

 of the uterus, without the intervention of other causes. 



When some time — days, for instance — has elapsed since this stage 

 in parturition was reached, and labor has completely subsided, the case 

 is difficult, and it will again depend upon circumstances whether expec- 

 tant or active treatment shall be adopted. An exploration should 

 certainly be made, and if it can be ascertained that the membranes are 

 not ruptured, while there is no straining and the condition of the animal 

 is satisfactory, then it will be advisable to wait until indications of labor 

 are once more manifested. If the state of the animal is not so favorable, 

 and delivery is decided upon ; should the os be impermeable, or not 

 sufficiently dilated to allow the passage of the foetus, then it must be 

 opened either by careful manipulation, uterine douches, the uterine 

 dilating bag, or other modes which will be alluded to when treating of 

 dystokia. 



When a long period has intervened, and the general and local disturb- 

 ance in, the animal necessitates active interference on the part of the 

 veterinary obstetrist, then of course the first and most urgent indication 

 is to remove the cause — the putrefying foetus — from the uterus. When 

 the OS is not sufficiently open to admit the hand and the withdrawal of 

 the foetus, then the case is one of difficult labor, complicated by the 

 death of the foetus and its state of decomposition. If the os should 

 chance to be contracted, it must either be dilated by the means we have 

 named, or if these do not succeed (though they often do), then the cervix 

 must be incised. In very exceptional cases, gastro-hysterotomy has to 

 be performed if the foetus or its remains are to be got rid of ; and in 

 some instances, owing to the emphysematous condition of the foetus, its 

 shape or size, or the deformity of the genital passages of the mother, 

 embryotomy is called for. 



When the uterus is emptied of all the matters, solid and fluid, it con- 

 tains, it may be thoroughly cleansed by repeated injections or washings 

 with tepid water, and finally with some anti-putrescent fluid — weak solu- 

 tions of chloral, or carbolic or salicylic acids. General treatment may 

 also be necessary, and this must be regulated according to the indications. 

 In all the manipulative operations subsequent to delivery, it will generally 

 be found that care and patience, and, above all things, an absence of 

 undue haste, are commendable, and particularly with regard to the 

 removal of the membranes, especially in primiparae. The danger of 

 septic infection may be largely averted by intravaginal emollient douches, 

 and serious consequences may often be avoided by abstaining from pre- 

 mature and violent interference. 



When portions of the foetus are expelled through fistulous openings, 

 even then surgical interference might be successfully invoked. 



ABORTION. 



When pregnancy is interrupted by the expulsion of the ovum, or of the 

 foetus at a stage when this has not attained sufficient development to live 

 external to its parent, abortion {partus immaturiis) is said to occur. But 



