334 



MA TERN A L D YSTOKIA . 



lying down soon after, the uterus became completely inverted. The broad ligaments 

 were torn, and the organ was so much injured that amputation of it was attempted. 

 The Cow, however, succumbed, and on examination it was discovered that the os uteri 

 was " torn into fragments," and " had a large excrescence in a schirrous state around its 

 neck, which had evidently acted as a strong ligature.' The broad ligaments were 

 ruptured as was the uterus itself ; likewise the vagina, through inversion, and also the 

 rectum. 



7. Howell {Ibid., vol. xlii., p. 97) describes a tumor which had formed beneath themu- 

 cous membrane of the vagina of a pregnant Cow. The animal was aged, and exhibiting 

 symptoms of parturition for some time without any visible progress being noted, an explo- 

 ration was made per vagmam. This revealed the existence of an immense tumor filling 

 up the vaginal canal and firmly pressing against the cervix uteri. With much difficulty 

 the OS was reached, when it was found that although the fcEtal presentation was natural, 

 delivery was impossible. The Cow was consequently slaughtered. The tumor, which 

 was ovoid in form, with slightly flattened sides, measured fifteen inches in its long and 

 ten in its short diameter — having a circumference of twenty-five inches at its largest 

 part. Its surface was smooth and unbroken, and covered by the vaginal mucous mem- 

 brane ; while its color was but little different from that of the adjacent parts. Its at- 

 tachment, which was just above the os uteri, was broad and thick ; in this respect it dif- 

 fered greatly from ordinary vaginal polypi. Its weight was a little under twenty-one 

 pounds. Histologically, its fibres were closely arranged in a network, and their meshes 

 contained exudation corpuscles. 



8. Cartwright {Ibid., vol. xlv., p. 203) gives an account of a vaginal polypus (lipoma- 

 tous) in a Cow, and which was removed by means of a coppir wire ligature. The tu- 

 mor, which was pendant from the vagina, was pear-shaped, about nine inches in length 

 and five across its widest part ; its surface was uneven. The ligature was applied around 

 the pedicle and tightened on the fifth day. Three days afterwards the tumor was ex- 

 cised close to the ligature, and the remaining parts returned. The animal did well. It 

 was not pregnant. 



9. A case similar to the foregoing is mentioned by Lemaitre {Memoires de la Soc. Vet. 

 du Calvados et dc la Manche, No. iii., p. 109). This was a non-pregnant eighteen months 

 old Mare, which showed febrile symptoms, had frequent attacks of colic, made expulsive 

 efforts, and reddish-colored matter escaped from the vulva. When the hand was intro- 

 duced into the uterus, it encountered a fleshy mass fixed by a narrow pedicle to the left 

 side of the organ, in the vicinity of the cornu. The tumor was removed by twisting and 

 pulling it. It weighed about four and a half pounds. The Mare had quite recovered 

 in seven days after the operation. 



10. Delhaye [Anttales de Med. Veterinaire de Bruxelles, 1853, p. 549) reports the case 

 of a Cow which was in labor for twelve hours. On a vaginal exploration being made, 

 an unusual-sized polypus was found obstructing the os uteri in which it was fixed. A 

 kind of incision was made, which allowed Delhaye to introduce his hand between the 

 cervix and the substance of the polypus, and then, by a brief manipulation, he was able 

 to isolate the mass from the subjacent tissues and remove it altogether. Ten minutes 

 afterwards parturition was accomplished spontaneously, and the Cow and calf did well. 



11. Delwart {Ibid., p. 550) describes a polypus growing from the floor of the vagina 

 near the cervix uteri, and which, while the animal was straining in parturition, was 

 pushed beyond the vulva. At first sight it looked like a case of inversion of the vagina ; 

 but on exploration its true character was detected. It was easily removed, and normal 

 delivery afterwards took place with ease. 



12. Leconte {Memoires de la Soc. Centrale de Mid. Veterinaire, vol. v., p. 153) ob- 

 served a heifer, two years old, and advanced in pregnancy, in whose vagina were a num- 

 ber of polypi, some of which were so large that they projected beyond the vulva when 

 the animal was lying. The largest measured from four to five inches in diameter and 

 its pedicle was as thick as a finger. Nothing was done until parturition commenced, 

 when the mass was removed by incision and enucleation. 



13. A heifer, about twenty months old was, according to Fabry {Annales de Med. Vet. 

 de Bruxelles, i860, p. 415), making violent expulsive efforts without any assignable cause. 

 Exploration revealed the presence, on the upper wall of the vagina, of an oblong fluctu- 

 ating tumor as thick as a man's arm, and which so filled up the passage that the finger 

 could scarcely be introduced beyond the meatus urinarius. No treatment was adopted 

 and the animal was killed for food. On the carcase being dressed, it was observed 

 that this tumor extended to the neck of the uterus, and that it contained a dark-colored 

 fetid pus, enclosed in a dark-tinted kyst. The walls of the uterus were extraordinarily 

 thickened by a massive exudate — the product of a previous inflammation. 



14. Fleury {Recueil de Med. Vetirinaire, 1863, p. 259) has given a very interesting history 

 of a Cow which was in labor for nine hours, and with which, at each pain, there appeared 

 between the labia of the vulva, at the same time as the fore-feet of the fcetus, a volumi- 



I 



