DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 241 



and antiseptic injections, such as carbolic acid, 1 dram; water, 1 

 quart. 



The more serious injuries depend on the complications. Rupture of 

 the anterior part of the canal, close to the mouth of the womb, may 

 lead to the introduction of infecting germs into the cavity of the abdo- 

 men, or protrusion of the bowel through the rent and externally, either 

 of which is likely to prove fatal. If both these conditions are escaped 

 the wound may heal spontaneously. Rupture into the bladder may 

 lead to nothing worse than a constant dribbling of urine from the vulva. 

 The cow should be fattened if she survives. Rupture into the rectum 

 will entail a constant escape of feces through the vulva, and of course 

 the same condition exists when the anus as well has been torn open. I 

 have successfully sewed up an opening of this kind in the mare, but in 

 the cow it is probably better to prepare for the butcher. 



CLOTS OF BLOOD IN THE WALLS OF THE VAGINA. 



During calving the vagina may be bruised so as to cause escape of 

 blood beneath the mucous membrane and its coagulation into large 

 bulging clots. The vulva may appear swollen, and on separating its 

 lips the mucous membrane of the vagina is seen to be raised into irreg- 

 ular rounded swellings of a dark blue or black color, and which pit on 

 pressure of the finger. If the accumulation of blood is not extensive it 

 may be reabsorbed, but if abundant it may lead to irritation and dan- 

 gerous inflammation, and should be incised with a lancet and the clots 

 cleared out. The wounds may then be sponged twice a day with a 

 lotion made with 1 dram sulphate of zinc, 1 drain carbolic acid, and 1 

 quart water. 



RETAINED AFTERBIRTH. 



The cow, of all our domestic animals, is especially subject to this acci- 

 dent. This may be partly accounted for by the firm connections estab- 

 lished through the fifty to one hundred cotyledons (Plate xm, Fig. 2) 

 in which the fetal membranes dovetail with the follicles of the womb. 

 It is also most liable to occur after abortion, in which preparation has 

 not been made by fatty degeneration for the severance of these close 

 connections. In the occurrence of inflammation, causing the formation 

 of new tissue between the membranes and the womb, we find the occa- 

 sion of unnaturally firm adhesions which prevent the spontaneous 

 detachment of the membranes. Again, in low conditions of health and 

 an imperfect power of contraction we find a potent cause of retention, 

 the general debility showing particularly in the indisposition of the 

 womb to contract, after calving, with sufficient energy to expel the 

 afterbirth. Hence we find the condition common with insufficient or 

 innutritions food, and in years or localities in which the fodder has 

 suffered from weather. Ergoted (Plato V), smutty or musty fodder, by 

 causing abortinn t is a frequent cause of retention. Old cows arc more 

 24097 1C 



