SEQ UEL^ OF PA R TURITION. 251 



access of these attacks is not regular ; and when they are frequent, se- 

 (^ere, and continue beyond twenty-four hours, we may apprehend the reten- 

 tion of a portion of the foetal membranes in the uterus, or commencing 

 inversion of that organ. This will necessitate an exploration, in order 

 to discover the cause ; which, when ascertained, should receive appropriate 

 treatment, to be hereafter described. 



2. Lochia. — The term lochia has been giv-en to the sanguinolent, sero- 

 sanguinolent, and muco-purulent, and finally mucus vaginal evacuations 

 occurring after parturition, and generally persisting until the uterus has 

 regained its ante-pregnant condition. The existence of this evacuation, 

 so marked in woman, has often been denied in animals ; but there can 

 be no doubt whatever as to the fact of its presence. It has been wit- 

 nessed by several veterinarians in the Mare, Cow, Sheep, and Bitch, and 

 we have noted it repeatedly in the Sow and Cat. But it is considerably 

 less in these animals than in woman, and does not flow continuously as 

 ih her, but at irregular periods ; the discharge accumulating in the uterus, 

 and only escaping when the animal undergoes exertion, and in defecation 

 or micturition. In the Cat, however, we have witnessed this discharge — 

 very slight — flowing constantly for four days after parturition ; and with 

 the Bitch we have a sanguinolent, then a mucus discharge persisting al- 

 most continuously for several days subsequent to that event. 



In the larger animals, this discharge can be seen about the inferior 

 commissure of the vulva ; it sometimes accumulates about the thighs and 

 tail in flakes and patches, as well as on the litter ; and when the animal 

 has been lying it forms small pools on the ground. 



When we remember that the uterus has for a long period nourished 

 one or more foetuses, we can scarcely wonder that it cannot all at once 

 cease its secretory function, and that its mucous membrane should con- 

 tinue in a hyperaemic condition until the lacteal secretion in the mammai 

 is fully established. As much as seven to eight quarts of sero-sanguino- 

 lent fluid have been removed from the uterine cavity of a Mare which had 

 foaled three days previously. 



When not mixed with blood, this discharge is albuminous and chylous- 

 looking ; it is rarely purulent, and then probably only from traumatic 

 causes ; neither does it have a bad odor, unless the uterus or vagina is 

 the seat of some pathological process, or a portion of the placenta is 

 retained. According to some authorities, the average duration of the 

 discharge is from two to three weeks ; but Saint-Cyr believes that when 

 it is prolonged beyond five to eight days, it is no longer a physiological, 

 but a pathological process. This is about the period which is necessary, 

 in the larger animals, for the return of the vulva to its normal dimensions 

 and ordinary form. 



Of the importance of the lochia there can be no doubt. By them the 

 uterus is relieved from its physiological hypertrophied condition, and of 

 the excitement of which it was the Seat during pregnancy and parturition. 

 But it can not have the same importance as innvoman, in whom the lining 

 membrane of the uterus is thrown off pretty nearly after every delivery. 

 It is not so with animals, as we shall see hereafter. 



One or two veterinary authorities have attached so much importance to 

 the lochia in animals, that to their suspension or suppression they attrib- 

 ute such serious results as : sanguine plethora, articular rheumatism in 

 the Cow, laminitis in the Mare, metro-vaginitis, cystitis, nephritis, peri- 



