860 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING, 



quired for some time. In such cases, too, a course of iron 

 tonics (sulphate of iron, two drachms daily) will be highly 

 beneficial in restoring- health and vigor. 



ABORTION. 



Abortion is, strictly speaking, the expulsion of the im- 

 pregnated ovum at any period from the date of impregnation 

 until the foal can survive out of the womb. If the foal is ad- 

 vanced enough to live it is premature parturition, and in the 

 mare this may occur as early as the tenth month (three- 

 hundredth day). 



The mare may abort by reason of almost any cause that 

 very profoundly disturbs the system. Hence very violent 

 inflammations of important internal organs (bowels, kidneys, 

 bladder, lungs) may induce abortion. Profuse diarrhoea, 

 whether occurring from the reckless use of purgatives, the 

 consumption of irritants in the food, or a simple indigestion, 

 is an effective cause. No less so is acute indigestion with 

 evolution of gas in the intestines (bloating). The presence 

 of stone in the kidneys, ureters, bladder, or urethra may in- 

 duce so much sympathetic disorder in the womb as to induce 

 abortion. In exceptional cases wherein mares come in heat 

 during gestation service by the stallion may cause abortion. 

 Blows or pressure on the abdomen, rapid driving or riding 

 of the pregnant mare, especially if she is soft and out oi con- 

 dition from idleness; the brutal use of the spur or whip, and 

 the jolting and straining of travel by rail or boat are prolific 

 causes. Bleeding the pregnant mare, a painful surgical 

 operation, and the throwing and constraint resorted to for 

 an operation are other causes. Traveling on heavy, muddy 

 roads, slips and falls on ice, and jumping must be added. 

 The stimulation of the abdominal organs by a full drink of 

 iced water may precipitate a miscarriage, as may exposure 

 to a cold rain-storm or a very cold night after a warm day. 

 Irritant poisons that act on the urinary or generative organs, 

 such as Spanish flies, rue, savin, tansy, cotton-root bark, ergot 

 of rye or other grasses, the smut of maize and other grain, 

 and various fungi in musty fodder are additional causes. 

 Frosted food, indigestible food, and above all green succulent 



