79 2 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



animals should be secured in stocks, the twitch applied, and 

 a forefoot held up or one hind foot raised by means of a 

 sideline. 



The hand and arm of the operator should be cleansed and 

 lubricated with warm oil, lard or liquid paraffin. The rec- 

 tum of the animal should be emptied of feces. Usually little 

 progress, if any, can be made while the hand is in the pos- 

 terior or pelvic rectum. It becomes necessary to push gently 

 forward into the free portion of the bowel, which can then 

 be carried to the right or left, up or down, and forward or 

 backward. The mare often strains somewhat, which should 

 always be a signal to the operator to cease his palpation un- 

 til the expulsive effort ceases, but without withdrawing his 

 hand. Care upon this point decreases the straining and 

 does much to avoid laceration of the rectal mucosa, asso- 

 ciated with hemorrhage. 



With the palm of the hand directed downwards, the cer- 

 vix and uterus, about the size of a man's wrist, may be 

 traced forward to the point of bifurcation, where the cor- 

 nua, almost as large as the body, are given off at approxi- 

 mately right angles. Tracing these to the right or left, the 

 operator can recognize the ovaries at or near the anterior 

 margin of the broad ligament, an inch or two beyond the 

 obtuse end of the cornua. The normal gland in the young 

 or adult mare is elastic, smooth, firm, oblong and about 

 21/2-31/2 inches in its greatest diameter, by li/o-2 inches in 

 its lesser diameter. The diagnosis of cystic or fibrous de- 

 generation of the ovaries of the mare and the relationship 

 between these diseases and sterility is not always clear. 



How many nymphomaniac mares would conceive if bred, 

 is not known, but it is known that many breed and that the 

 nymphomania usually disappears during the span of preg- 

 nancy, to recur with some degree of regularity after foal- 

 ing. 



The question of overcoming sterility duo to cysts or other 

 ovarian disease, with a view to the restoration of the breed- 

 ing powers in valuable brood marcs, has been quite neg- 

 lected and attention turned chiefly toward the amelioration 



