136 OBSTETRICAL I'HYHIDLOGY. 



the ventral ones, are increased by two rows of elevations on each side 

 of the linea alba, which correspond to the portions of the cornna in 

 which the young are being developed, and where they form projections 

 on the wail of their sac. 



The increase in volume and the various changes which the gravid 

 uterus undergoes, bring about alterations in, and frequently derange- 

 ment of, certain functions. Fortunately, however, these alterations are 

 slow and gradual ; so that the different organs concerned generally 

 adapt themselves to their changed condition without much inconveni- 

 ence. The animal becomes lazy and slower in movement, and is more 

 desirous of quiet and tranquillity as gestation advances. These indica- 

 tions are observed at an early period. At the same time the abdomen 

 enlarges and changes its shape : it becomes rounded, and projects 

 below and on each side beyond the crural region, while the flanks 

 become hollow, the croup and thighs wasted-looking, and the sacrum 

 and external tuberosities of the ilium more salient. 



In the domesticated animals there are rarely observed those dis- 

 turbances in the digestive organs so marked at the commencement of 

 pregnancy in woman. On the contrary, immediately after conception, 

 possibly because the oestrum has disappeared, the appetite is increased, 

 digestion is usually easier, and all the formative phenomena seem to 

 acquire increased activity ; more use appears to be made of the food in 

 the economy, and there is a notable tendency to fatten. This tendency 

 has been taken advantage of by breeders and feeders of animals which 

 are destined more for food than reproduction ; and those intended for 

 slaughter are usually rendered pregnant, and fed until about the middle 

 period of gestation, when they have reached their most favourable 

 condition — as towards the last period this tendency vanishes, and 

 wasting is more apparent, due to the increased demands of the foetus 

 and the enlargement of the mammary glands. 



In some cases, however, and particularly with the Cow, the appetite 

 becomes somewhat depraved, the animals eating soil, gnawing the 

 walls or woodwork of their stable, drinking foul water, etc., and very 

 exceptionally there may be vomiting. ^ 



With the increased bulk of the uterus, as has been observed, the 

 abdominal and thoracic organs experience more or less the effects of 

 the compression it exercises on them. The diaphragm is pushed 

 forward, and diminishes the capacity of the thorax and the expansi- 

 bility of the lungs ; the ribs, encumbered by the w^eight of the foetus, 

 are raised with difficulty by the muscles of inspiration, so that respira- 

 tion is frequent and shallow, and the creature is readily " blown" and 

 fatigued. Digestion may be somewhat impaired and retarded, and 

 slight constipation is not rare. The strain induced by the uterus on 

 the vagina, and indirectly on the neck of the bladder, causes attempts 

 at micturition to be more frequent ; while the compression on the 

 liver, vena portae and vena cava, explains the mechanical obstruction 

 to the circulation and subsequent cedema, particularly in the Mare. 



In addition to all this, the blood is more or less modified. Its abso- 

 lute quantity is certainly not diminished ; on the contrary, it may be 

 increased to a certain extent ; but its corpuscles diminish in number in 

 a very perceptible manner, giving rise to a hydraemia more allied to 

 anaemia than anything else. 



1 An instance of this very rare accident is given in the Etat Sanitaire des Animaux 

 Domestiques de Belgique for 1877, p. 65. 



