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secureh^ when tiie mare raises lier back to strain. It is desirable to 

 tie the mare short so tliat she may be unable to lie down for a day or 

 two, and she should be kept in a stall with the hind parts higher than 

 the fore. Violent straining may be checked by full doses of opium 

 (one-half dram), and any costiveness or diarrhea should be obviated 

 by a suitable laxative or binding diet. 



In some mares the contractions are too violent to allow of the return 

 of the womb, and full doses of opium (one-half dram), laudanum {2 

 ounces), or chloral hydrate (1 ounce) may be demanded, or the mare 

 must be rendered insensible \>y ether or chloroform. 



RUPTURE OR LACERATIOX OF THE WOMB. 



This may occur from the feet of the foal during parturition, or from 

 ill-directed efforts to assist, but it is especially liable to take place in 

 the everted, congested, and friable organ. The resultant dangers are 

 bleeding from the wound, escape of the bowels through the opening 

 and their fatal injury b}' the mare's feet or otherwise, and j)eritonitis 

 from the extension of inflammation from the vround and from the 

 poisonous action of the sei^tic liciuids of the womb escaping into the 

 abdominal cavity. The first object is to close the wound, but unless 

 in eversion of the womb this is practically impossible. In the last- 

 named condition the wound must be carefully and accurately sewed 

 up before the womb is returned. After its return, the womb must 

 be injected daily with an antiseiJtic solution (borax one-half ounce or 

 carbolic acid 3 drams to a fj[uart of tepid water). If inflammation 

 threatens, the abdomen may be bathed continuously with hot water 

 by means of a heavy woolen rag, and large doses of opium (one-half 

 dram) may be given twice or thrice daily. 



RUPTURES OF THE VAGIXA. 



These are attended ]iy dangers similar to those belonging to rupture 

 of the womb, and in addition by the risk of x3rotrusion of the bladder, 

 which appears through the lips of the vulva as a red pyriform mass. 

 Sometimes such lacerations extend downward into the bladder, and in 

 others ui3ward into the terminal gut (rectum). In still other cases 

 the anus is torn so that it forms one common orifice with the vulva. 



Too often such cases prove fatal, or at least a recovery -is not 

 attained, and urine or fjeces or both escape freely into the vagina. 

 The simple laceration of the anus is easily sewed up, but the ends of 

 the muscular fibers do not reunite and the control over the lower bowel 

 is never fully reacquired. The successful stitching up of the wound 

 communicating v.ith the bladder or the rectum requires unusual skill 

 and care, and though I have succeeded in a case of the latter kind, I 

 can not advise the attempt by unprofessional persons. 



