150 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



sarily rendered barren. The operation does not differ from 

 ordinary spaying of a healthy animal. 



The tortuous tubes through which the ovum passes from 

 the ovary to the womb are frequently the seat of fatty de- 

 generation, so that they become at once blocked by the mor- 

 bid product and incapable of their normal contractions and 

 the ovum fails to reach the matrix. When remediable at 

 all, which is only in the earlier stages and slighter forms ot 

 the change, this is to be met by the measures advised for 

 fatty degeneration of the ovaries. 



Nearly all active diseases of the womb unfit it for retain- 

 ing the product of conception. Tumors, inflammations and 

 catarrhs, or mucopurulent discharges, usually lead to the 

 destruction or expulsion of the semen or the product of con- 

 ception, so that "in all alike the restoration of a healthy con- 

 dition of the womb is a prerequisite to breeding. We can- 

 not enter further into this subject at present than to say 

 that in simple catarrhal inflammation benefit may be derived 

 from a daily injection of one-half drachm of sulphate of zinc, 

 one-half drachmn of carbolic acid, one ounce of glycerine 

 and one quart of water to be used tepid. 



Certain kinds of food prevent conception, or, what is 

 equivalent, lead to an early abortion. Among these may be 

 named ergoted grasses, smutty wheat and corn, musty grain, 

 and aliments which produce scouring, indigestion, colic and 

 diseases of the urinary organs. In the same category may 

 be included the free drinking of iced waters when thirsty. 



It has been frequently noticed that the persistent breed- 

 ing of near relations has resulted in a sexual incompatibility 

 which rendered a male and female of the same family in- 

 capable of breeding together, though each was perfectly 

 fertile with strangers. When we must breed close this 

 should be guarded against by having two or more brandies 

 of the same family kept in a different locality and climate, 

 the influence of which may thus be obtained without chang- 

 ing the blood. 



