646 PATHOLOGY OF PARTURITION. 



retained for some time, and the discharge from the vulva ceases. But 

 when the organ becomes distended, it contracts, or it is pressed upon 

 when the animal lies down, or during micturition or defecation ; then the 

 OS is forced partially open, and the accumulated fluid escapes in great 

 abundance. Saint-Cyr mentions that Gohier, Chouard, and other veter- 

 inary writers, give instances of this singular form of chronic metritis ; they 

 have seen Mares which every forty days, every month, or at shorter inter- 

 vals, expelled fourteen, sixteen, and even as much as twenty pints of pus, 

 after exhibiting symptoms of colic, followed by more or less marked ex- 

 pulsive efforts. 



In the chronic form of metritis, the animal does not appear to suffer at 

 the commencement, but it soon loses condition ; the appetite is irregular, 

 and the skin unhealthy-looking and clings to the bones ; the secretion of 

 milk decreases, and finally disappears ; and though debility is present, 

 oestrum may occur far more frequently than in health, yet fecundation is 

 not possible. Marasmus sets in, with febrile attacks at intervals — pyaemic 

 fever ; and though recovery is still probable, by skilful treatment and long- 

 continued nursing, yet death is only too often the sequel. 



Even when recovery appears to be progressing favorably, relapses may 

 occur, sometimes through the breaking up and diffusion of venous thrombi, 

 which give rise to a pyaemic process, as in the case recorded by Con- 

 tamine. On the morning after an easy parturition, the after-birth having 

 also been expelled, the Cow began -to tremble very much ; the udder was 

 small and flaccid, the back arched, the appetite was lost ; there was 

 anxiety, with colicky pains, constipation, and pressure in the right flank 

 caused pain ; the labia of the vulva were apart, swollen, and of a dark-red 

 color. In three days the animal was much better ; but after three weeks 

 there was a relapse. Petechiae formed on the conjunctivae, the hind- 

 limbs became swollen, and bleeding ensued from the skin and nostrils, 

 and there was cough. The Cow finally recovered. 



Occasionally during the sub-acute or chronic stages of metritis, metas- 

 tatic formations occur in the lungs, liver, joints, and other parts ; not un- 

 frequently there are caseous or pseudo-tuberculous deposits in the uterus, 

 which may attain such a thickness in its walls as to simulate pregnancy. 



Pathological Anatomy. 



In those cases in which death has taken place and an examination of 

 the body been made, the local and essential lesions are found in the gen- 

 ital organs and peritoneum, and when puerperal septikaemia has been 

 present, there are observed indications of general infection of the body. 

 Decomposition sets in early, the tissues are dark-green* and foetid, and 

 meteorism is largely developed. 



In simple endo-metritis we will not, of course, find such marked and 

 general lesions, nor will the peritoneum be involved. In the more acute 

 cases, and particularly those in which there has been septic infection, 

 puerperal ulcers of a dirty greenish hue are generally met with in the 

 vagina, often in the vicinity of the meatus urinarius and about the labia 

 of the vulva. The mucous membrane is of a dull dark-red hue, and 

 swollen in patches by diphtheritic infiltration, or covered in parts by crou- 

 pous exudates. The bladder may also be implicated, though not to 

 such a serious extent, and especially if the catheter has been employed. 

 In the cavity of the uterus is constantly found a quantity of chocolate- 



