INVERSION OF THE UTERUS. 593 



men or both, and raising of the hind parts of the animal as high as pos- 

 sible, will greatly assist in diminishing the straining. 



, Cont£7itio7i or Retentiofi of the Uterus. 



Reduction of the inverted uterus having been accomplishecl, and every 

 thing done to remove the slightest traces of invagination, the animal — 

 unless serious injury has been inflicted on the organ — immediately begins 

 to look easier and happier, and the inexperienced would suppose that 

 there was no further occasion for interference. The experienced ob- 

 stetrist, however, is well aware that certain precautions must be adopted 

 against a possible recurrence of the accident. True, this recurrence is to 

 a certain extent provided for by raising the croup of the animal as high 

 as may be convenient, either by means of litter or boards, and keeping 

 the forehand low. But this is not always a preventive, and veterinary 

 obstetrists have therefore devised other means for retaining the uterus in 

 its place until all risk of another inversion has passed away. These de- 

 vices consist oi pessaries, sutures, and bandages. 



Fig. 196. 

 Pad Pessary, 



Pessaries. — These are instruments of various forms, which are introduced 

 into the genital organs, and kept there for a certain time, in order to 

 prevent displacement of the uterus after its reduction. There are several 

 described and used by veterinary obstetrists, 



T\-i^ pad pe^ssary (Fig. 196) is a round piece of wood, from twenty to 

 twenty-five inches in length, with a hole at one end, through which passes 

 a loop of strong cord six to eight inches long ; and at the other end a 

 round pad, three or four inches in diameter, composed of tow or rags, 

 covered by a piece of soft cloth, and firmly tied to the stalk by a piece of 

 twine fixed in a small circular groove therein. 



In using this pessary, the pad is steeped in oil or melted lard ; it is 

 then carefully introduced into the vagina, and placed against the cervix 

 uteri, and cords from each side of the loop at the other end, attached 

 to a surcingle round the chest, keep it firmly in its place. The pad por- 

 tion of the pessary may be of wood, though the elastic material is to be 

 preferred, A transverse piece of wood, with an eyelet at each end, and 

 made to move up and down the handle by means of a screw, is some- 

 times substituted for the loop of cord. 



This pessary may be most usefully employed as a repositor, in effecting 

 reduction of the inverted uterus. 



The ring pessary (Fig. 197) is equally simple, and is preferred by some 

 practitioners to the pad one. It is composed of a wooden, or better, an 

 iron ring, about two-and-a-half inches in diameter, pierced by an elongated 

 or mortised hole at opposite sides, and of a strong wooden stem about 

 twenty inches long, cleft in two as far as the middle, where it is tied by a 

 piece of twine or wire. The ends of the two branches (A A) are firmly 

 tennoned in the mortises of the ring ; and the other end of the stalk (B) 

 is flat, and passes through the central opening of a transverse piece (T T), 



38 



