DISEASES OF THE GE:srEEATWE ORGANS. 149 



Among the other sources of irritation charged with causing nym- 

 phomania are tiimoi-s and cancere of the womb, rigid closure of the 

 neck of the womb so that conception can not occur and the frequent 

 services by the male stimulate the unsatisfied appetite, and inflam- 

 mation, and a purulent discharge from the womb or vagina. 



Treatment. — The treatment in each case will vary with the cause 

 and is most satisfactory when that cause is a removable one. Over- 

 feeding on richly nitrogenous food can be stopped, exercise in the 

 open field secured, diseased ovaries may be removed (see " Castra- 

 tion," p. 310), catarrhs of the womb and passages overcome by anti- 

 septic astringent injections (see " Leucorrhea," p. 226), and tumors of 

 the womb may often be detached and extracted, the mouth of that 

 organ having been first dilated by sponge tents or otherwise. The 

 rubber dilator (impregnator) though sometimes helpful in the mare 

 is rarely available for the cow, owing to the different condition of the 

 mouth of the womb. 



DIMINUTION OR LOSS OF VENEREAL DESIRE ( ANAPITRODISIa) . 



This will occur in either sex from low condition and ill health. 

 Long standing chronic diseases of important internal organs, lead- 

 ing to emaciation and weakness, or a prolonged semistarvation in 

 winter may be sufficient cause. It is, however, much more common 

 as the result of degeneration or extensive and destructive disease of 

 the secreting organs (testicles, ovaries) which elaborate the male and 

 female sexual products, respectively. Such diseases are, therefore, a 

 common cause of sterility in both sexes. The old bull, fat and lazy, 

 becomes sluggish and unreliable in serving, and finally gets to be use- 

 less for breeding purposes. This is not due to his weight and clum- 

 siness alone, but largely to the fatty degeneration of his testicles and 

 their excretory ducts, which prevents the due formation and matura- 

 tion of the semen. 



If he has been kept in extra high condition for exhibition in the 

 show ring, this disqualification comes upon him sooner and becomes 

 more irremediable. 



Similarly the overfed, inactive cow, and above all the show cow, 

 fails to come in heat at the usual intervals, shows little disposition to 

 take the bull, and fails to conceive when served. Her trouble is the 

 same in kind, namely, fatty degeneration of the ovaries and of their 

 excretory ducts (Fallopian tubes), which prevents the formation or 

 maturation of the ovum or, when it has formed, hinders its descent 

 into the womb. Another common defect in such old fat cows is a 

 rigid closure of the mouth of the womb, w^hich prevents conception, 

 even if the ovum reaches the interior of that organ and even if the 

 semen is discharged into the vagina. 



