ABORTION. 293 



already upon the farm. The owner had for this cause, 

 and for the second time, sold out every cow on his farm. 

 The first herd of cows, however, were allowed to associ- 

 ate with one another. The second herd was, as has 

 been already stated, kept separate, but fed upon the 

 same grass and hay, the produce of the same farm. So 

 much then is this against the theory of sympathy, not to 

 speak of the utter impossibility for a cow to possess a 

 power wisely withheld and denied to the higher and lower 

 orders of the animal kingdom. For if this were not the 

 case, how long could we be assured of the perpetuation 

 and continuance of our own race, and of other species in 

 the animal world? 



Having thus denied the possibility of sympathy as a 

 cause of abortion, let us now inquire what are the more 

 immediite causes, and after which yf^ will endeavor, as 

 best we can, to elucidate the more remote causes. The 

 immediate causes of abortion are the separation of the 

 appendages and attachments of the calf from the womb, 

 and the contraction of the womb itself, whereby the calf 

 is expelled to the outer world. The remote causes of 

 abortion are few, and we will state them in the order of 

 their importance. First, and by far the most important, 

 and the one which is most likely to produce abortion in 

 an epizootic form, is weakness and debility of the cow. 

 This debility is the result of irritation of the fibrous, se- 

 rous tissue of the body, occurring at seasons of the year, 

 which generally produce, and give rise to coughs, colds 

 and throat diseases. Hence, the epizootic form of abor- 

 tion, so often seen, and attributed to sympathetic causes. 

 This irritation and debility is of frequent occurrence, and 

 is so insidious in its character, that even those persons 

 most about the animals are not awaiie of anything being 



