DISEASES OF THE GENEEATTV'E OEGANS. 177 



ing, 1 ounce or 1| ounces of chloral hydrate in a quart of water may 

 be given to check the pains. If the passages have dried up or lost 

 their natural lubricating liquid, smear the interior of the passages 

 and womb and the surface of the calf, so far as it can be reached, 

 with pure fresh lard ; or pure sweet oil may be run into the womb 

 through a rubber tube {fountain syringe). In dragging upon the 

 fetus apply strong traction only while the mother is straining and 

 drag downward toward the hocks as well as backward. The natural 

 curvature of both fetus and passages is thus followed and the extrac- 

 tion rendered easier. 



LABOR PAINS BEFORE RELAXATION OF THE PASSAGES. 



Any of the various causes of abortion many bring on labor pains 

 before the time. Straining comes on days or weeks before the time, 

 and there is not the usual enlargement, swelling, and mucous dis- 

 charge from the vulva. There is little or no falling in by the sides 

 of the root of the tail ; the abdomen has not dropped to the usual 

 extent, and the udder is less developed and yields little or no milk. 

 In spite of the pains no water bags appear, and the oiled hand cau- 

 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. Vihin^- 

 num pninifoUmn^ 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 a 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 secure 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 (PL XX, fig. 6) may be used if there is opening enough to 

 16923°— 12 12 



