DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION IN THE FEMALE 87 



sedative enemas three or four times a day, and by the application of warm 

 cloths over the loins. 



The food should be of a laxative nature, and may further be used as a 

 vehicle for such febrifuges as nitrate or bicarbonate of potash or soda. In 

 the milder cases brief and gentle exercise should be enjoined, and if the 

 recumbent posture is unobtainable, owing to the pressure and consequent 

 pain, the patient will derive some benefit from slings, which must be 

 attached in such a manner as to ensure their not slipping backwards and 

 coming in contact with the suffering members. 



DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION IN 



THE FEMALE 



These are not of such frequent occurrence in the mare as among some 

 other domesticated animals, but are usually of serious import. 



UTERINE HEMORRHAGE OR FLOODING 



This accident is less often encountered among quadrupeds than among 

 bipeds, owing chiefly to structural differences which need not here be 

 specified, and also to the erect posture of the latter favouring gravitation 

 and the continuance of bleeding. Against this the horizontal position of 

 the womb in the former is conducive to the formation of clots and the 

 natural arrest of hemorrhage. 



In the mare, alarming cases of flooding are sometimes met with, and, 

 whether due to the accidental rupture of blood-vessels in the act of 

 parturition, to natural weakness of the walls of the uterus, or to anatomical 

 peculiarities, call for immediate attention. Flooding may occur after pre- 

 mature labour or abortion, easy and natural births, or in presentations 

 necessitating manual interference in delivery. Among the more frequent 

 causes, perhaps, may be mentioned the entanglement of the foatal envelopes 

 in the passage during delivery, when they are torn away from their uterine 

 connections before the time has arrived when, in the absence of the foal, 

 such contraction of the womb can be effected as shall close the mouths of 

 the broken vessels. The experienced accoucheur will gently separate the 

 membranes if he finds them retarding delivery; but, as has been pointed 

 out, labour is so sudden and brief in the mare, as a rule, that powerful 

 expulsive efforts may have already done mischief in the absence for only 

 a few minutes of a watchful attendant. It has been observed among 

 human obstetricians that post partum hemorrhage is frequent or otherwise 

 in proportion to the rapidity of delivery, and we might, pari passu, look 



