II. DEFECTS AND DISEASES OF THE OVIDUCTS, 

 UTERUS, VAGINA AND VULVA. 



I. Arrests in Development of the Oviducts, 

 AND Uterus. 



When dealing with arrests in the development of the ovaries, 

 on page 155, we necessarily alluded to the concurrent arrests in 

 the development of the genital tube. While arrests in the for- 

 mation of the genital glands and of the oviducts, uterus and 

 vagina are not necessarily parallel, they are quite frequently 

 closely associated in the same individual. In Fig. 51 is shown 

 the genitalia of a cow, in which the uterine body and the vagina 

 are wanting and are replaced by two adherent, parallel cords 

 representing the Miillerian ducts. In freemartins and herma- 

 phrodites, arrests in development of the uterus and oviducts are 

 common. In one instance occurring in our clinic, a filly was 

 presented, with the history that she had an annoying mucous 

 discharge from the vulva. Palpation revealed that that portion 

 of the ducts of Miiller which should have formed the uterus 

 had instead developed the characters of a vagina. A slight con- 

 striction denoted the location of the cervical canal but, beyond 

 this, the tube had all the characters of the vagina itself ; its 

 mucosa was identical with that of the vagina so far as the sense 

 of touch revealed and the function of the tube was also vaginal 

 in character, ballooning promptly upon palpation, wholly unlike 

 the uterus. 



While aberrations in the development of the oviducts and 

 uterus are somewhat rare, the possible variations in such aberra- 

 tion are extreme and their character must be determined by 

 palpation, either through the rectum or the vagina. 



Such aberrations in development are rarely, if ever, subject to 

 remedy, and their diagnosis and the determination of the character 

 of the sterility, whether it be permanent or removable, is the 

 chief question to be decided by the veterinarian. 



2. Salpingitis and Occlusion of the Oviducts. 



Inflammation of the oviducts, accompanied by suppuration, ab- 

 sces.sation and occlusion, is somewhat rarely recognized in veter- 

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