Puerperal Diseases of the Uterus 581 



ous as the metal catheter and must be used as a siphon. 

 When this is attempted it is quite as readily choked with 

 membranes and has the additional disadvantage of having 

 its intake occluded by sucking in the uterine wall. 



When the membranes are not broken up and are impris- 

 oned by a contracted cervix, douching is highly dangerous 

 and should not be undertaken. The cervix should be gently 

 dilated until portions of the membranes may be grasped 

 with the hand or forceps and traction applied. If one-half 

 to one pint of warm olive oil or liquid paraffin is introduced 

 into the uterus, it lubricates the uterine walls as well as the 

 somewhat necrotic tissues and favors removal. The oil also 

 soothes the irritated endometrium, and in virtue of its lubri- 

 cating action diminishes the epithelial abrasions inevitable 

 in such manipulations. 



Many cases occur where skilled veterinary attendance at 

 the proper moment is impracticable or impossible. Proper 

 veterinary attendance upon retained fetal membranes is 

 generally economically impossible in cows of low value. 

 Even animals of great value are frequently so located that 

 skilled veterinary attendance is not available. Veterinary 

 service must then be rendered through the layman, and 

 methods of handling which may be quite proper when ad- 

 ministered directly by the skilled practitioner may become 

 wholly improper and acutely dangerous in the hands of the 

 layman. This group includes at present the majority of 

 cases of retained membranes, and their proper handling is 

 a heavy responsibility upon the veterinary profession. Here 

 a hard and fast rule should be laid down for the layman: 

 Do not attempt the manual removal of the fetal membranes 

 or the douching of the uterus. In numerous cases this rule 

 will work some harm. In rare cases, like the one or two ex- 

 amples I have cited, it will end in disaster when skillful 

 handling would have saved the animal. But the peril to the 

 feiv is more than counterbalanced by avoiding serious injury 

 to many. The layman would probably fail in any event in 

 those rather rare cases where manual removal is imperative. 



At present the best known course for the layman to 



