150 BOVINE OBSTETRICS 



torsio uteri is not mentioned until 1829 ; it seems to have been 

 unknown to writers of that period. 



Neither J. G. Eberhard (1793), who studied obstetrics 

 under Kerstiug at Cassel, nor Skellet (1811) and Binz (1830), 

 mention torsio uteri, not even under another name. In Barn- 

 ard's work, " Traite de la Parturition," the author mentions on 

 page 415 that Maurin and Vicillard described torsio uteri in 

 1823. 



Prof. A. Numan reported (1831) a post mortem made on 

 a sheep in 1829. He thought " that the right pregnant horn of 

 the uterus seemed to be connected with the cervix by a twisted 

 cord. ' The broad ligaments, the Fallopian tubes, ovaries and 

 the whole left horn of the uterus were wound around this part 

 of the uterus, until the whole appeared like a large cord." 



Irminger and Schenker (1829), Schmid and Yix (1839), 

 Rychner in his "Bujatrik" (1840, page 175), Bleiggenstorfer 

 and Schneider (1843), Denoc (1845), have all described torsio 

 uteri. Denoc and Dieterichs, the latter in the " Kec. de Med. 

 Vet," 1845, report that German and Swiss veterinarians already 

 in 1845 described this torsio uteri, and use the expression 

 " torsion da col de la matrice." 



Topographical Anatomy. — The gravid uterus, on account of 

 the diagonal position of the rumen, lies in the right lower 

 abdominal region. In front it is related to the third and fourth 

 stomachs, on the left to the rumen, on the right to the abdo- 

 minal wall. The anterior portion is covered by the great 

 omentum. The uterus is fixed by the mesometrium, which 

 consists of two folds of the peritoneum, descending from the 

 sub-lumbar region to the uterus and form its serous layer. In 

 the cow, these suspensory ligaments, also known as broad 

 ligaments (ligatnenta uteri lata), are possessed of anatomical 

 peculiarities of importance to the aetiology of torsio uteri. 



The broad ligaments are attached to the spinal column of 

 the sub-lumbar region and on the parietes of the flanks. On 

 reaching the uterus, they envelop it, forming its outer layer or 

 serosa. In the cow, the broad ligaments are attached to the 

 Literal walls of the uterus, and even a little below them ; so, if 



