242 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



subject than young ones, probably because of diminishing vigor. A 

 temporary retention is sometimes due to a too rapid closure of the neck 

 of the womb after calving, causing strangulation and imprisonment of 

 the membranes. Conditions favoring this are the drinking of cold (iced) 

 water, the eating of cold food (frosted roots), and (through sympathy 

 between udder and womb) a too prompt sucking by the calf or milking 

 by the attendant. 



The symptoms of retention of the afterbirth are usually only too evi- 

 dent, as the membranes hang from the vulva and rot away gradually, 

 causing the most offensive odor throughout the building. When re- 

 tained within the womb by closure of its mouth, and similarly in 

 cases in which the protruded part has rotted off, the decomposition 

 continues 'and the fetid products escaping by the vulva appear in offen- 

 sively smelling pools on the floor and mat together with hairs near the 

 root of the tail. The septic materials retained in the womb cause inflam- 

 mation of its lining membrane, and this, together with the absorption 

 into the blood of the products of putrefaction, leads to ill health, ema- 

 ciation, and drying up of the milk. 



Treatment will vary according to the conditions. When the cow is in 

 low condition, or when retention is connected with drinking iced water 

 or eating frozen food, hot drinks and hot mashes of wheat bran or other 

 aliment may be all-sufficient. If, along with the above conditions, the 

 bowels are somewhat confined, an ounce of ground ginger, or half an 

 ounce of black pepper, given with a quart of sweet oil, or a pound and 

 a half of Glauber salts, the latter in at least 4 quarts of warm water, 

 will often prove effectual. A bottle or two of flaxseed tea, made by 

 prolonged boiling, should also be given at frequent intervals. Other 

 stimulants, like rue, savin, laurel, and carrninitives like anise, cumin, 

 and coriander are preferred by some, but with very questionable reason, 

 the more so that the first three are not without danger. Ergot of rye, 

 1 ounce, or extract of the same, 1 dram, may be resorted to to induce 

 contraction of the womb. The mechanical extraction of the membranes 

 is, however, often vcalled for; of this there are several methods. The 

 simplest is to hang a weight of 1 or 2 pounds to the hanging por- 

 tion, and allow this, by its constant dragging and by its jerking effect 

 when the cow moves, to pull the membranes from their attachments 

 and to stimulate the womb to expulsive contractions. But in the neg- 

 lected cases, when the dependent mass is already badly decomposed, it 

 is liable to tear across under the added weight, leaving a portion of the 

 offensive material imprisoned in the womb. Again, this uncontrolled 

 dragging upon a relaxed womb will (in exceptional cases only, it is 

 trae) cause it to become everted and to protrude in this condition from 

 the vulva. 



A second resort is to seize the dependent part of the afterbirth be- 

 tween two sticks, and roll it up on these until they lie against the vulva; 

 then, by careful traction, accompanied by slight jerking movements 



