Enzootic Abortio7i 473 



until finall}^ it too perished and the two were then expelled to- 

 gether, in different stages of development. 



The course of abortion is generally rapid and when once be- 

 gun is usualh- completed quickly, offering little or no hope that 

 it may be in any way averted. If the os uteri is still closed and 

 there are simply some feeble labor pains, it is barely po.ssible that, 

 by quieting the animal, the normal duration of pregnancy may be 

 reached and living young produced. Such a result is almost 

 unknown clinically. 



Harms suggests that we may check the labor pains by the in- 

 ternal administration of camphor, with opium, alcohol or other 

 stimulants. 



When abortion has actually occurred, it is not pos.sible to at 

 once determine if it is sporadic or infectious and consequentl}- 

 we should treat each case of abortion occurring in a stable or 

 herd as suspicious of infection and handle it accordingly. This 

 will be considered under Infectious Abortion. 



The .sequelae of the sporadic abortion are the same as those of 

 the infectious kind, which will also be considered in that chapter. 



II. Enzootic Abortion Resulting from Infectious Dis- 

 eases OF THE Pregnant Animal. 



When con.sidering contagious cellulitis, on page 68, we noted that 

 nearly all pregnant mares suffering from this affection aborted. 

 When describing venereal diseases, on page 73, we laid stress upon 

 the frequency of abortion in certain of these maladies, especially in 

 the granular venereal disease of cows and dourine of mares, in 

 which affections a large proportion of the pregnant animals abort. 

 In some other infectious diseases of animals, abortion is common. 

 It occurs frequently in foot-and-mouth disease and contagious 

 pleuro-pneumonia of cows. In sheep-pox, abortion is said to be 

 frequent. Pregnant sows suffering from hog-cholera generally 

 abort. 



The reason for abortion in these affections is not well known. 

 As the micro-organism which causes some of these diseases is not 

 fully determined or its nature is in dispute, it is impossible to say 

 whether the fetus contains the causative agent or not. It is 

 quite possible that the death of the fetus, in many of these in- 

 stances, is due to the passage, into the fetal circulation, of the 

 toxic products of the malady. It is clearly possible that the 



