630 ACCIDENTS INCIDENTAL TO PARTURITION. 



which a portion of the faeces escaped. These caused a great and constant irritation in 

 the vagina. The animal was in a state of marasmus, and was therefore killed. 



2. Favre {Le Veterinaire Campagnard, p. 300) was shown a Mare, which the groom 

 found with some pellets of faeces in the vulva. Removing these, others followed. There 

 was no external lesion apparent, but, on examination, Favre discovered in the floor of 

 the rectum, about five fingers' breadth from the anus, a longitudinal fissure from five to 

 six inches in length, the borders of which were cicatrized, and came together when the 

 rectum was empty. The roof of the vagina was fissured in the same direction, and the 

 corresponding borders of the two fissures were adherent ; so that a free and direct com- 

 munication existed between the rectum and vagina. The cause of the fistula was not 

 known, and no treatment was adopted. t 



3. Mongau {Annates de Med. Veterinaire^ 1856, p. 406) was called to assist a Mare in 

 labor,^and found the foetus in a wrong position. The head, neck, and a fore-limb of the 

 young creature had passed through the wall of the vagina into the rectum, while the 

 other fore-limb protruded from the vulva. The parts in the rectum were pushed back 

 through the rent, and the foetus was placed in its normal position, and extracted. In a 

 short time the Mare was sufficiently well to be sold. Mongau adds that this was not 

 the first time he had to treat such a case, and he remarks that when the parent lives, the 

 tear in the rectum does not entirely close — there always remains an opening by which 

 faecal matters pass into the vagina. 



4. Dupont [Recueit de Med. Veterinaire, 1858, p. 105) was consulted about a Mare 

 which the stud-groom at the stallion-station of ^Bordeaux declined to put again to the 

 horse ; as at each attempt the latter had the penis covered with fasces when it was with- 

 drawn from the vagina. Externally, there was nothing wrong noticed with the Mare ; 

 but, on the hand being introduced into the vagina, there was found in the roof of that 

 canal an opening into which the fingers could be easily passed. At that moment the 

 animal passed f?eces, and, on the hand being withdrawn, it was soiled by excrementitious 

 matters. The fistula was in the middle part of the canal, and was between two and 

 three inches in length. When the rectum was empty, its borders were in apposition ; 

 these were thick and irregular, from the presence of large, soft granulations, which bled 

 readily. Dupont did not see the animal again after this examination. 



5. Griois {Ibid., 1859, p. 411) relates that a farmer, in the vicinity of Amiens, was 

 aroused during the night, owing to one of his Mares which was in labor. The foal was 

 apparent, and he set himself to pull it away. The task was a long and difficult one ; 

 but, aided by two neighbors, it was at length accomplished — the foetus being extracted, 

 and the envelopes soon followed. It was not until late next day that it was discovered 

 that the foal had been removed /^r rectum. Griois being then called in, made the fol- 

 lowing observations : The anus, from which the debris of the foetal envelopes still 

 hung, was much lacerated in every direction, but especially at its lower part ; it was 

 also considerably swollen. The vulva, on the contrary, did not offer any thing unusual 

 — not even the slightest infiltration. The hand, on being iTitroduced into the rectum, 

 perceived, at about six inches from the anus, a rupture, eight inches long at least, with 

 ragged margins, and corresponding to a similar rent in the uterus (vagina?). Through 

 openings the hand could not only be passed into one or other of the canals, but also 

 into the abdominal cavity, where the faces -which had escaped fr 0771 the recttmt cotdd be al- 

 ready felt. The fissure in the rectum was sutured, and appropriate treatment adopted. 

 In eleven days the wound in the intestine was cicatrized, and some months afterwards 

 the animal was sold for a good sum. 



6. Lecouturier {A7t7iales de Med. Vet. de Bruxelles, 1867, p. 268) was called upon to 

 examine a Mare, which, two months after parturition, exhibited unsteady gait, rigidity 

 of the loins, difficulty in rising, and pain in defecation, discovered, on rectal exploration, 

 a tumor on the anterior part of the left side of the pelvis. An examination /^rz/a^/««z« 

 led also to the discovery of a solution of continuity of the vaginal wall, at a point cor- 

 responding to the tumor. From the bottom of this wound was removed the remains of 

 a fibrinous clot, the whole of which could not be brought away, even after the opening 

 was enlarged. It was then found that the recto-vaginal septum was perforated. Green 

 food was prescribed, as well as emollient enemas, and slightly stimulant injections into 

 the vagina. In six weeks the fistula was cicatrized. 



7. Andre [Ibid., 1864, p. 175) reports that a Mare, four years old, strained very much 

 during parturition when, all at once, the fore -limbs of the foal appeared — one by the 

 vulva, the other by the anus. The owner, who was with the Mare, at once endeavored 

 to push back the two limbs, and bring that which had entered the rectum into the va- 

 gina ; having accomplished this, birth soon took place. Andre prescribed a soft diet, 

 and the application of lard three times a day to the vagina. Cicatrization, without fis- 

 tula, was complete by the seventeenth day. 



8. Ory (Saint-Cyr, Op. cit., p. 662) had to give his attention to a Mare, five years old, 

 which had foaled on the previous evening. For three weeks previously the animal 



