STERILITY. 67 



simple sound, the size of an ordinary catheter, well j^reased, may be 

 employed with the same object as the lingers, and appears to answer 

 (juite as well. Various instruments have been devised to dilate the 

 cervix, but nothing is equal to the lingers or the sound. The animal 

 may be put to the male on the same or the following day. This simple 

 operation for the cure of sterility has been very often practised, and is 

 well known to the Arabs of the Sahara, who treat their barren Mares in 

 this manner, and in the majority of cases with success. 



In the United States of America, Lyford's method of ensuring fertility 

 when the cen'ix is at fault, has been extensively practised, with excellent 

 results. Use is made of what he terms irapregnators and dilators. The 

 former consist of a hollow tube or cone, composed of soft rubber of 

 suilicient thickness and tirnmess to retain its shape and resist the 

 pressure of the cen'ix. Somewhat constricted at the disc portion, in 

 order that it may be self-retaining (Fig. 35, a), the posterior surface of 

 the disc is somewhat concave, to admit the urethral sinus of the glans 

 penis ; while the canal in the body is sufficiently wide to allow the 

 semen an easy passage through the tube to the end {h) which projects 



Fig. .Jo. Fig. 36. 



ImI'REGNWTI.NG TlBH. SkcTIOS OI- ImPRKCNATINC TlBE. 



a. Disc ; h, Bulb. a, Disc ; /<, F.ullj. 



t^Tr— jf^- 



-% =-^^ =^ 



Fig. \M. 

 Dilator ok thk Cervix. 



into the uterus. These imprcgnators are in three or four sizes, to 

 lit different-sized cervices ; and to render them less objectionable to the 

 Stallion and Marc, the disc (Fig. 3G, </), as well as the bulb {}>), is hollow 

 and very elastic, so that connection between male and female takes place 

 almost as if no foreign body intervened. The advantages claimed for 

 these articles are : close approximation to the normal condition of the 

 cen'ix during copulation, and so rendering the communication between 

 the cavity of the uterus complete, thus assuring easy access for the 

 semen ; they are easily inserted ; are ready for immediate use ; and they 

 are cheap and durable. The dilator (Fig. 37) greatly facilitates the 

 introduction of the tube, by dilating the os uteri and displacing any 

 obstruction that may exist, thus allowing the cervix to envelop the 

 impregnator easily and closely, as well as saving much time in inserting 

 it. This is accomplished by the left hand in the vagina placing the 

 tube — in which is the dilator — at the entrance to the os, while the right 

 hand makes the necessar}' pressure on the handle of the dilator to push 

 it into the canal ; the left hand retains it there until the dilator is with- 



