OTHER CAUSES OF MATERNAL DYSTOKIA. 363 



contact with so much purulent matter. The contents were not at all offensive in smell. 

 The vagina was next laid open : it was healthy. The band of ligament spoken of took 

 its rise from folds of apparently glandular structures of the vagina, near to the os uteri, 

 and was inserted into the opposite side of the vagina. It was of the thickness of a penny 

 cord, of a fibrous texture, whitish color, and about three inches long." 



5. The same authority {Ibid., vol. xxii., p. 395) met with a similar case in a Mare which 

 had gone its full period of pregnancy. A person who first assisted it found the head 

 and only one fore-leg of the foetus presenting ; the animal was straining violently, and 

 had forced out nearly half a yard of the rectum, which could not be returned. The other 

 fore-leg was discovered to be over the neck of the foetus. By pushing back the body, . 

 this leg was put right, and then a small foal was extracted without difficulty. The pro- V 

 lapsed rectum was now reduced. After this the Mare was very ill and uneasy, and died / • 

 in about thirty-six hours. On an autopsy being made, it was observed that the mesen- 

 tery was torn away from the rectum for at least a yard in extent. On laying open the 

 vagina and uterus, a strong band, the thickness of one's little finger, and about a foot in 

 length, was found stretching across the former, about six inches from the os uteri. Cart- 

 wright had no doubt that at the time of parturition the non-presented fore-leg of the ' 

 foal was retained by this band, and this led to the protracted parturition and rupture of 



the mesentery. 



6. This authority found an analogous cause of dystokia in a Sow \yhich could not 

 bring forth its whole litter. It had delivered itself of several and then stopped, though 

 the straining was continuous. One pig was extracted with much difficulty, but in frag- 

 ments. The animal was killed, and about five inches from the entrance to the vagina X 

 there were two distinct passages formed by a strong band or septum, which was, to all 

 appearance, muscular in structure, though covered with mucous membrane ; it was at- 

 tached to the upper and lower part of the vagina, though inclined a little to one side ; 



the attachment was about three mches long, and the vagina was divided into two distinct 

 cavities for about seven inches of its length. 



7. The same excellent authority describes another case (iS'(//«^//r^>^ Veterinary Review, 

 vol. ii, p. 285) in which there was a vertical band across the os uteri that prevented ^ 

 birth. This was divided, parturition took place, and the animal did well. 



8. Goubaux {Recueil de Med. Veterinaire, 1873-74, Archives Veterinaire, November, 

 1876, p. 562) has drawn particular attention to the existence of these bands as a cause 

 of dystokia in the domestic animals, but particularly in the Mare and Cow. He refers 

 more especially to the two following instances : Rolland, in 1874, attended a Cow, a 

 primipara, in which there was a vertical septum, three centimetres wide in the middle, 

 between the vulva and vagina : this prevented birth, and the Cow calved when the 

 band was incised ; the specimen is now in the Museum of the Alfort School. In May, 

 1867, Colme was called to assist a three years old Heiferwhich could not calve ; the two 

 fore-limbs of the foetus only presented. An exploration discovered a fibrous band, three 

 centimetres broad, its extremities attached horizontally to each side of the cervix uteri, 

 the OS being perfectly dilated; it divided the latter into two openings, through each of 

 which one of the foetal limbs had passed. The band was divided, scarcely any haemor- 

 rhage resulted, and birth took place in the ordinary^vay, and without any troublesome 

 consequences. 



Goubaux also gives some interesting details of a post-mortem examination of a Cow 

 which had a similar band immediately behind the cervix, and sums up as follows: Some 

 of these bands are situated between the vulva and vagina, and are vertical ; others are 

 placed at the bottom of the vagina, close to the cervix, and may be vertical and hori- 

 zontal ; they are very strong and resisting. They may not constitute an obstacle to 

 copulation, whatever their situation, but they may prove an obstacle to parturition; their 

 division does not occasion haemorrhage or any serious result, and this operation allows 

 parturition to take place in the usual manner. 



It may be that some of these bands are nothing more than the hymen, alluded to 

 below. 



With regard to the treatment of these cases, but little can be said. 

 When the bands are in the vagina, their division is the principal object, 

 after which, if no other obstacle is present, delivery can take place. When, 

 however, the uterus is constricted by an external abdominal band — though 

 this condition will be difficult to diagnose — then no course can promise 

 any thing like a successful result except the Caesarean section. 



