Pregnancy 199 



mals, as cows and mares, pregnancy can sometimes be 

 detected by a physical examination. The rectnm is 

 emptied, two assistants pass a folded blanket nnder 

 the animal's belly and lift np, while the operator, 

 his hand and arm oiled and inserted into the rectum, 

 feels for the uterus, which lies just beneath the 

 rectum. When the uterus is found, a quick push 

 downward is given with the flat hand, and the hand 

 held quietly in position. If the animal is pregnant, 

 the small fetus will be felt as it bobs back against 

 the hand, like a cork floating in water. The preg- 

 nant uterus felt in this manner is much larger than 

 the normal uterus, and it lies about half an arm's 

 length from the vulva. Sometimes animals, par- 

 ticularly mares, show few if any signs of pregnancy 

 until they surprise their owners with their living 

 young. 



Pregnant animals should be kept in fair flesh, not 

 very fat nor very thin. They should have plenty of 

 exercise, and laxative, but not too bulky food. Harsh 

 treatment, excitement and violent exercise should be 

 avoided, such as fast driving, heavy pulling, wallow- 

 ing in snow-drifts or mire, slipping on ice, crowding 

 through narrow doorways, kicks, blows or sudden 

 jumps from the use of the whip. During the later 

 stages of pregnancy, strong medicines, especially vio- 

 lent purgatives, should not be given. 



The period of gestation, or pregnancy, — that is, the 

 time which elapses between the fertilization of the egg 

 and the birth of the young, — varies in different animals 

 as follows : 



