174 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



tiously introduced into the vagina finds the neck of the womb firmly 

 closed, rigid, and undilatable. If it is known that the cow has not 

 reached her proper time of calving, the examination through the 

 vagina should be omitted and the animal should be placed in a dark, 

 quiet place by herself, and be given 1 to 2 ounces laudanum. Vibur- 

 nwm prunifolium (black haw), 1 ounce, may be added, if necessary, 

 and repeated in three hours. The pains will usually subside. 



In some instances the external parts are relaxed and duly prepared, 

 but the neck of the womb remains rigidly closed. In such case the 

 solid extract of belladonna should be smeared around the constricted 

 opening and the animal left quiet until it relaxes. 



DISEASED INDURATION OF THE MOUTH OF THE WOMB. 



From previous lacerations or other injuries the neck of the womb 

 may have become the seat of fibrous hardening and constriction, so as 

 to prevent its dilatation, when all other parts are fully prepared for 

 calving. The enlarged, flabby vulva, the sinking at each side of the 

 rump, the full udder, and drooping abdomen indicate the proper time 

 for calving, but the labor pains effect no progress in the dilatation of 

 the mouth of the womb, and the oiled hand introduced detects the 

 rigid, hard, and, in some cases, nodular feeling of the margins of the 

 closed orifice which no application of belladonna or other antispas- 

 modic suffices to relax. Sponge tents may be inserted or the mechan- 

 ical dilator (PI. XX, fig. 6) may be used if there is opening enough to 

 admit it, and if not, a narrow-bladed, probe-pointed knife (PI. 

 XXIV, fig. 2) may be passed through the orifice and turned upward, 

 downward, and to each side, cutting to a depth not exceeding a 

 quarter of an inch in each case. This done, a finger may be inserted, 

 then two, three, and four, and finally all four fingers and thumb 

 brought together in the form of a cone and made to push in with 

 rotary motion until the whole hand can be introduced. After this 

 the labor pains will induce further dilation, and finally the present- 

 ing members of the calf will complete the process. 



TWISTING OF THE NECK OF THE WOMB. 



This is not very uncommon in the cow, the length of the body of 

 the womb and the looseness of the broad ligaments that attach it to 

 the walls of the pelvis favoring the twisting. It is as if one were to 

 take a long sack rather loosely filled at the neck and turn over its 

 closed end, so that its twisting should occur in the neck. The twist 

 may be one-quarter round, so that the upper surface would come to 

 look to one side, or it may be half round, so that what was the upper 

 surface becomes the lower. The relation of the womb of the cow to 

 the upper and right side of the paunch favors the twisting. The 



