PREGNANCY. 



attempted when half or more than half of the 

 period of pregnancy has passed, it is not at all 

 unlikely that so much irritation of the parts 

 will ensue as to cause the expulsion of the 

 fetus. 



I will suppose that 2 months have passed 

 since the supposed impregnation. The fetus 

 is still remaining in the pelvic cavity. The 

 heart has begun to heat, and the blood to cir- 

 culate through its little veins. It will be situ- 

 ated immediately below the rectum. I intro- 

 duce my hand into that intestine. I have not 

 occasion to pass it very far up. I feel the little 

 substance ; for it then is small in proportion to 

 its after growth. I feel it under my hand. I 

 am certain that I am pressing upon the uterus 

 and its contents. I cannot perhaps detect the 

 pulsation of the embryo; but if I had delayed 

 my examination until the fetus was 3 months 

 old, I should have assurance that it was there 

 by its now increased bulk, while the pulsation 

 of its heart would tell me that it was living. 



For 2 months from this period in the cow, 

 and lor 3 in the mare, I should have no other 

 indication of the presence of the fetus, nor of 

 its life and growth, except from the gradual 

 enlargement of the abdomen of the mother; 

 and, by that time, the little one would have in- 

 creased in size and strength, and would have 

 begun to take occasional exercise in its first 

 domicile, and then would become the more 

 evident, but not more satisfactory proof of the 

 life of the fetus ; its motion strong enough to 

 be seen through the integument. 



I might, perhaps, wish to give this assurance 

 of the life of the fetus to some curious spec- 

 tator, or to some intended purchaser. I would 

 not gallop the mare in order to effect this : I 

 would not so far disturb her or the young 

 animal that she bore within her. Much less 

 would I give her cold water to drink, and 

 which she usually would drink until she an- 

 noyed the fetus, and the unborn animal told us 

 how much we annoyed him by endeavouring 

 to shift his quarters and get away from the 

 action of the cold. I would not run the hazard 

 of giving her the colic, and perhaps destroying 

 him or her by this unscientific and somewhat 

 cruel method of exploration ; but I probably 

 should give a tap or two on the outer wall of 

 his dwelling, just sufficient to rouse him from 

 his slumbers, and induce him to express his 

 anger at the annoyance by a tolerably distinct 

 plunge or kick. 



Most certainly, if it was a cow that I was 

 exhibiting, I would not give, nor would I suffer 

 any one else to give those terrible punches in 

 the right flank which I have no doubt are the 

 cause of much unsuspected injury, and, occa- 

 sionally at least, connected with, or the origin 

 of a difficult or a fatal parturition. 



I may here observe that the fetus of the mare, 

 from the beginning, occupies nearly the centre 

 of the belly. In the early stage, Mr. Mogford 

 generally found it "lying across the pelvic 

 cavity, the spine being'immediately under ; the 

 head on the left side, and the tail on the right 

 side." In the latter portion of its fetal state its 

 motions are pretty equally distributed on either 

 side, and the beating of the fetal heart is most 

 plainly heard at the very base of the abdomen. 



PRIMROSE. 



The fetus of the cow is huddled up on the right 

 side of the bell}-. There its motions are most 

 seen, and the beatings of its heart best heard. 

 The enormous paunch, lying principally on the 

 left side, presses every other viscus, and the 

 uterus among the rest, into the right % flank. 

 This also explains a circumstance familiar to 

 every breeder. If the cow should happen to 

 carry twins, they are crowded together in the 

 left flank, and one seems absolutely to lie upon 

 the other. Whenever the farmer notices the 

 kicking of the fetus high up in the flank, he at 

 once calculates on twins. 



To return from this digression. If half the 

 period, or more, of utero-gestation had passed, 

 and I could not get the little stranger to move 

 by my gentle tapping, and it was a co\v with 

 which we had to do, and a quiet one, I would 

 have her carefully held by the cowherd, while 

 I stooped and applied my ear flat upon the 

 flank, and then slowly and with gentle pres- 

 sure upwards and downwards, and forwards 

 and backwards, over the flank and the lower 

 part of it, until I heard and which I should do 

 in a great majority of cases the pulsations of 

 the fetal heart I should recognise it by their 

 quickness, the pulsations of the fetus being 

 double or more than double those of the other. 



If it was a mare, I would have a halter put 

 on her, and an assistant should hold up one of 

 her legs, while some person interested reached 

 under, or perhaps knelt under the belly of the 

 mare, and passing one ear along an imaginary- 

 line from between the teats to the chest, and 

 deviating a little from one side to the other, he 

 would then also recognise the quick pulsation 

 of the fetal heart. 



These observations are addressed to prac- 

 tical men, and will be speedily put to 'the test 

 by them. The object of the author is to get 

 rid of the vulgar and inefficient methods of de- 

 tecting pregnancy which are now in general 

 use, and to introduce others that are founded 

 on a surer and more scientific basis. 



This subject has been treated of by others, 

 and Dr. J. C. Ferguson, of King's College, Lon- 

 don, has published an Essay an Auscultation, as 

 the only"unequivocal Evidence of Pregnancy. Aus- 

 cultation is the method employed by physicians 

 to determine the healthy or diseased condition 

 of the lungs and other internal parts, by means 

 of the ear and stethoscope. 



PRICKING. In hunting, the tracing of a 

 hare, where her footing can be perceived. In 

 farriery, the term is used to signify the driving 

 a nail into the soft or quick part of a horse's 

 foot, so as to cause temporary lameness. 



PRIMROSE (Primula, from primus, the first; 



in allusion to the early flowering of the plants). 



This is an extensive genus of small, but very 



pretty and desirable plants. All the species of 



primrose succeed best in a mixture of loam 



! and peat, and increase readily by seeds, or by 



dividing the plants, which should be done as 



I soon as they have flowered. There are in 



England five indigenous species. 



1. The common primrose (P. vulgaris), 



grows common everywhere in England, 



I adorning the groves, hedges, and waste grassy 



places in spring; flowering from March to 



June. Flowers numerous, large, sulphur- 



933 



