132 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



by the stallion maj^ cause abortion. Blows or pressure on the abdo- 

 men, rapid driving or riding of the pregnant mare, especially if she 

 ir soft and out of condition from idleness, the brutal use of the spur 

 or whip, and the jolting and straining of travel by rail or boat are 

 prolific causes. Bleeding the pregnant mare, a painful surgical oper- 

 ation, and the throwing and constraint resorted to for an operation 

 are other causes. Traveling on heavy, muddy roads, slips and falls 

 on ice, and jumping must be added. The stimulation of the abdom- 

 inal organs by a full drink of iced water may precipitate a miscar- 

 riage, as may exjDosure to a cold rainstorm or a very cold night after a 

 warm day. Irritant poisons that act on the urinary or generative 

 organs, such as Spanish flies, rue, savin, tansy, cotton-root bark, 

 ergot of rye or other grasses, the smut of maize and other grain, and 

 various fungi in musty fodder are additional causes. Frosted food, 

 indigestible food, and, above all, green succulent vegetables in a 

 frozen state, have proved effective factors, and filthy, stagnant water 

 is dangerous. Low condition in the dam and plethora have in oppo- 

 site ways caused abortion, and hot, relaxing stables and lack of 

 exercise strongly conduce to it. The exhaustion of the sire by too 

 frequent service, entailing debility of the offspring and disease of 

 the fetus or of its envelopes, must be recognized as a further cause. 



The symptoms vary mainly according as the abortion is early or 

 late in pregnancy. In the first month or two of pregnancy the mare 

 may miscarry without observable symptoms, and the fact only 

 appears by her coming in heat. If more closely observed a small clot 

 of blood may be found behind her, in which a careful search reveals 

 the rudiments of the foal. If the occurrence is somewhat later in 

 gestation, there will be some general disturbance, inappetence, neigh- 

 ing, and straining, and the small body of the fetus is expelled, en- 

 veloped in its membranes. Abortions during the later stages of 

 pregnancy are attended with greater constitutional disturbance, and 

 the process resembles normal parturition, with the aggravation that 

 more effort and straining is requisite to force the fetus through the 

 comparatively undilatable mouth of the womb. There is the swelling 

 of the vulva, with mucus or even bloody discharge; the abdomen 

 droops, the flanks fall in, the udder fills, the mare looks at her flanks, 

 paws with the fore feet and kicks with the hind, switches the tail, 

 moves around uneasily, lies down and rises, strains, and, as in natural 

 foaling, expels first mucus and blood, then the waters, and finally the 

 fetus. This may occupy an hour or two, or it may be prolonged for 

 a day or more, the symptoms subsiding for a time, only to reappear 

 Avith renewed energy. If there is malpresentation of the fetus it will 

 hinder progress until rectified, as in difficult parturition. Abortion 

 may also be followed by the same accidents, as flooding, retention of 

 the placenta, and leucorrhea. 



