3IO 



MATERNAL DYSTOKIA. 



v/as supposed to be due to the frequent and long-continued attempts to in- 

 troduce the hand to extract the calf. 



The cause of all these lesions was " the Cow tumbling into a ditch, and 

 remaining there for some time struggling very much." " The calf and 

 uterus were turned or twisted in consequence of the lateral ligaments 

 giving way, which would take place during the fall, as the poor animal 

 completely turned over before she fell to the ground. The mesentery 

 might possibly be torn at the same time, and the intestines forced into 

 the pelvic cavity. That part of the gut which rested on the brim of the 

 pelvis was strangulated, from the weight of the calf resting on it ; and the 

 other portion, which was forced back, was continually under the influence 

 of excessive pressure, from the poor creature's attempt to rid herself from 

 pain." 



Mr. Bennett ( Veterinarian, vol. xlv., p. 925), called to see a Cow which had been suffer- 

 ing from aphthous fever, but which on recovery began to exhibit symptoms of abdom- 

 inal pain, found on examination that it was near the period of parturition : the pains, 

 indicated by the symptoms, being somewhat allied to those of labor, but were unac- 

 companied by any dilatation of the os uteri. The pulse was quick and tremulous, the 

 breathing rapid, and the surface of the body bedewed with perspiration ; the faeces and 

 urine were voided during the painful expulsory efforts. Supposing the foetus to be dead, 

 and that in due course the os uteri would be dilated, diffusible stimulants were adminis- 

 tered with the view of sustaining the animal's strength and assisting in the expulsion of 

 the calf. Subsequently, on the same day, the pulse was rather more distinct ; though 

 the eyes were more sunken and the general indications of suffering more marked. On 

 the following morning it was much worse, being almost pulseless and evidently dying, 

 and no signs of delivery. The Cow died soon after. 



On making -a post-mortem examination, the uterus was found to be much congested, its 

 vessels being turgid with. blood, and its walls very much thickened. But what, in Mr. 

 Bennett's eyes, was a very singular thing, was the presence of a " complete twist in the 

 neck of the uterus ; so that the uterus must, calf and all, hav'e turned quite over in the 

 abdomen." Whether this state of things arose from the Cow rolling or from any other 

 cause, Mr. Bennett could not say ; though, from the appearance of the uterus, he imag- 

 ined the accident might have occurred forty-eight hours. He adds that, " No doubt the 

 strangulation would lead very quickly to the complete congestion of the vessels of the 

 womb and to the speedy death of the calf." 



At a meeting of the Liverpool Veterinary Medical Association, held in 1875, M""* 

 Woods described a case of " twisted uterus " in a Cow, the organ containing a fully de- 

 veloped foetus, and the os having become hermetically sealed. The animal had been 

 ill for some time ; but it gradually recovered, and was fed for the butcher. When killed 

 the foetus was discovered to be quite perfect, but the membranes had disappeared through 

 absorption. 



Captain Russell, M.R.C.V.S. {Veterinary Journal, November, 1876), relates that he 

 was called to see a heifer described as " straining a good deal," and had been doing so 

 for sixteen hours, as if attempting to calve ; but that " nothing was visible, nor was her 

 time up for another month or six weeks." The Cow was lying, and evidently in great 

 pain; it was straining violently ; the eyes were sunken; the pulse was very frequent, 

 feeble, and almost fluttering ; with other symptoms denoting great exhaustion, and ap- 

 parently speedy dissolution. On making an examination /('r vaginam in the usual man- 

 ner, to ascertain if it was merely a case of mal-presentation of the foetus, the hand could 

 only be introduced about six inches, the walls of the canal feeling as if coiled from left 

 to right ; the mucous membrane seemed to be much congested, and felt " corded," hot 

 and swollen. Twisted uterus was diagnosed, and reduction was attempted by turning 

 the animal from right to left, but without any benefit. 



The symptoms being so urgent, and as the Heifer was in good condition, it was im- 

 mediately destroyed. On opening the abdomen, the entire body of the uterus was dis- 

 covered to have made a rotation from left to right, the upper having become the under 

 surface. The torsion itself was much congested and strangulated, and the pelvic cavity 

 between the walls of the vagina and rectum, and between the former and the floor of the 

 pelvis, was full of effused serum of a jelly-like consistence — evidently the result of long- 

 continued strmining. The foetus was well developed, and had apparently been dead for 

 some hours, decomposition having set in. 



How or when the uterus became displaced in this instance, could not be discovered, 



