402 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



greed dairy cows which are undergoing severe tests for 

 official records in the production of milk and butter fat. 

 Therefore it is preeminently a disease of the highest class 

 of dairy cows and has closed the breeding careers of many 

 renowned animals. The effect of nymphomania upon lacta- 

 tion is usually very marked ; the dairying efficiency is greatly 

 decreased. Generally the milk flow is exceedingly erratic. 

 In some cases a nymphomaniac may yield one day thirty or 

 forty pounds of milk, and the next day, five or ten. One day 

 her milk may contain 8 per cent, or more of butter fat and 

 the next day, 2 or 3 per cent. In such cases there is abso- 

 lutely no way by which a person may judge from the be- 

 havior of the cow one day what it will be the next. 



Upon examining the genital tract, the most marked 

 change will be found in the ovaries. Palpation of these re- 

 veals one, two, or three cysts in one or both ovaries. No 

 recognizable corpus luteum is present. In very rare cases, 

 as stated above, there may be a small central cyst sur- 

 rounded everywhere by glandular tissue. The unwary prac- 

 titioner may fail here in his diagnosis. When the symptoms 

 of nymphomania, as described above, are present, the ex- 

 aminer will do well to search very carefully for a central 

 cyst in case of the absence of the large peripheral type. 

 The presence of the central cyst is to be diagnosed by very 

 careful palpation. The involved ovary, which is abnor- 

 mally large for the size and breed of the animal, approaches 

 the spheroidal shape. If the ovary is carefully palpated, 

 one gets the sensation of a very thick-walled, tense cyst in 

 its center. The uterus is much enlarged and extremely flac- 

 cid. It nearly always contains an increased amount of mu- 

 cus or muco-pus. This is readily revealed by douching. 

 The cervix is flaccid and atonic. The cervical canal is di- 

 lated so that it will ordinarily permit the ready passage of 

 one, and frequently of two or three fingers. The vagina and 

 vulva participate markedly in the general atony of the geni- 

 tal tract. The vulva is large, flabby, and readily dilated. 

 Occasionally prolapse of the cervix through the vulva re- 

 sults from the general atony. In such cases the cervix be- 



