2 04 PA THOL OG Y OF GESTA TION. 



cations that attend parturition. But in many cases the complications are 

 few and trifling, the animals scarcely experiencing any inconvenience, and 

 retaining ^^11 their useful qualities unimpaired. When the accident occurs 

 in the Cow at an early period — before the fifth month — the secretion of 

 milk is generally interrupted, often for a year, as the mammas have not 

 had time to experience the reflex or sympathetic influence which stimu- 

 lates them into activity ; when, however, it takes place in the last half of 

 .pregnancy the secretion may be established, though the yield is usually 

 diminished, and the glands do not furnish their ordinary quantity until 

 the next pregnancy. 



Abortion may produce prolapsus of the uterus and vagina, and some- 

 times even of the rectum. At an early period of gestation, as we have 

 mentioned, when the foetal and uterine attachments are not very close, the 

 ovum or foetus may be expelled with the whole of the membranes ; but as 

 the process has advanced, this result is less probable, and particularly 

 with the Cow. The membranes are frequently retained, wholly or par- 

 tially, when the foetus comes away ; and owing to the condition of the 

 cervix and its rapid contraction, they are included in the uterine cavity 

 and constitute what is termed *' retention of the placenta : " often a serious 

 complication of abortion in the Cow after the first third of pregnancy, the 

 membranes decomposing and giving rise to putrid infection and other 

 alarming pathological conditions. 



In the simplest cases, oestrum appears in the Cow in from one to two 

 weeks after the miscarriage, as after parturition, and conception may occur 

 then ; but not unfrequently impregnation does not take place until after 

 several returns of this condition, and often a whole year elapses. In 

 other instances, oestrum does not appear until the full interval of regular 

 pregnancy has elapsed, and then the animal conceives almost as readily 

 as before the mishap. Another very common result is a more marked 

 disturbance in the generative functions, in which there is a tendency to 

 abortion after every conception ; and with other animals there remains 

 an excitability of the generative organs, which is manifested by an almost 

 persistent state of oestrum, giving rise to nymphomania, and accompanied 

 by sterility. 



Pathological Anatomy. — The lesions occasioned by abortion are 

 varied, according to circumstances. In the majority of cases, and espe- 

 cially when pregnancy has been well advanced, the maternal organs are in 

 a similar condition to that observed after normal parturition. The os is 

 dilated or closed, but in general the cervix is a little softer than in the 

 unimpregnated state. The uterus is more or less contracted on itself and 

 looks congested, its vessels being voluminous, varicose, and filled with 

 blood ; its cavity contains a certain quantity of blood-colored mucus, 

 and often all the characteristic indications of placental retention and 

 decomposition ; its mucous membrane is red and thickened, and there 

 may be traces of inflammation in it and the cotyledons, as well as evidence 

 of the cause which profluced the accident, if due to injury. 



The appearance of the, foetus varies also, according to the period at 

 which it is expelled, the cause or causes which led to its expulsion or 

 death, as well as the period of its decease. At page 107 we have enu- 

 merated every thing known that is likely to lead to a knowledge of its age. 

 Whether it is expelled or is found in the uterus on examining the carcase 

 of an animal that has died or been destroyed, the body of the foetus may 



