Endometritis 591 



ine horns, enlarged transversely, elongated, and flabby, fall 

 over the pubic brim to lie upon the abdominal floor. In this 

 manner they drag the ovaries downward and forward. The 

 mesometrium loses its tone also and the entire genital group 

 hangs flabbily from the vulva. If the uterus is douched, 

 there returns in the fluid in many cases some mucus or muco- 

 pus. In the abattoir such a uterus is eighteen to twenty- 

 four or more inches long upon its greater curvature. Its 

 interior contains a little mucus streaked more or less notably 

 with pus. The uterine mucosa is thickened, turgid, and en- 

 gorged. Endometritis passes imperceptibly into pyometra. 

 Frequently there is found in an otherwise apparently healthy 

 uterus a few mils of pus somewhat mixed with mucus. In 

 other cases larger amounts of pus are encountered, until 

 finally the pus content is of such volume that the disease is 

 described as pyometra. 



Endometritis of moderate degree is not readily recogniza- 

 ble during estrum. At that time the flabby uterus partly 

 regains its tone and there is a flood of mucus which tempo- 

 rarily conceals evidences of disease. Endometritis is largely 

 associated with cervicitis at the vaginal end of the uterus, 

 and with salpingitis or ovaritis or both at the ovarian end. 

 That is, intra-uterine infection cannot readily be confined to 

 the uterus for a long period of time. Since the tube is con- 

 tinuous, the infection tends to pass from the uterus into the 

 cervix and the oviduct. 



The prognosis of endometritis in itself is good. When 

 proper handling is delayed and salpingitis has resulted, the 

 latter is virtually beyond control. So long as the endome- 

 trium preserves its integrity, endometritis is generally reme- 

 diable. While technically a mucous membrane can not be 

 disinfected without destruction, clinically the uterine mucosa 

 can be rendered sterile or essentially so. In my experience 

 it has been not only possible but quite practicable to disin- 

 fect the uterine cavity so far that, if the animal is slaugh- 

 tered ten to fifteen days later, attempts to grow cultures 

 from the uterine mucosa fail, while similar efforts with the 

 oviducts, which are beyond surgical reach, yield bacterial 

 growths. 



