DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE OEGANS. 



By James Law, F. R. C. V. S. 

 Professor of Veterinary Science, etc., m Cornell University. 



Diseases of the generative organs are practically confined to ani- 

 mals which are kept for reproduction and the dairy. The castration 

 of the bull condemns these organs to inactivity and protects them 

 from the many causes of injury attendant on the engorged blood 

 vessels in the frequent periods of sexual excitement, on the exposure 

 to mechanical violence, and on the exposure to infective inoculation. 

 In three respects the castrated male is especially subject to disease: 

 (1) To inflammation and tumefaction of the cut end of the cord that 

 supported the testicle and of the loose connective tissue of the scro- 

 tum; (2) to inflammation of the sheath and penis fi'om the accumu- 

 lation of gravel in the fonner, from which the penis is not usually 

 protruded in passing water; and (3) to bruising, abrasion, and 

 inflammation of the sheath and penis during suspension in the stocks 

 for the purpose of shoeing. Apart from these, the ox is practically 

 almost exempt from the inflammations and injuries of the genital 

 organs. The same applies to the castrated heifer. Inflammation 

 may occur in the broad ligament of the womb whence the ovary has 

 been removed or infective inflammation in the abdominal cavity 

 (peritonitis) in case the operation has been performed through the 

 flank, as it usually is in the young heifer. Apart from these, the cas- 

 trated heifer is practically immune from any trouble of the genera- 

 tive apparatus. Even the virgin heifer is little subject to such 

 troubles, though she is not exempt from inflammations, and above all, 

 morbid growths in the ovaries which are well developed and func- 

 tionally very active after the first year, or in precocious animals after 

 the first few months of life. The breeding cow, on the other hand, 

 is subjected to all the disturbances attendant on the gi^adual enlarge- 

 ment of the womb, the diversion of a large mass of blood to its walls, 

 the constant drain of nutrient materials of ail kinds for the nourish- 

 ment of the fetus, the risks attendant and consequent on abortion 

 and parturition, the dangers of infection from the bull, the risks of 

 sympathetic disturbance in case of serious diseases of other organs, 

 but preeminently of the urinary organs and the udder, and finally 

 the sudden extreme derangements of the circulation and of the nerv- 

 ous functions which attend on the sudden revulsion of a great mass 



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