SI'.'XS OF VnEny.tXCY. 139 



sive niovements. So that it has usually been held as a sign of concep- 

 tion, if the female refuses the male soon after copulation, and particularly 

 if a month or two has elapsed, and tiie Mare is in good condition and 

 well fed. But in some cases the symptoms of " heat " persist for some 

 time after coition, and the erethism of the generative organs is not 

 allayed, although in reality impregnation has taken place ; and in very 

 exceptional instances the " heat" will return after having disappeared 

 for a certain time. Some ]\Iares which have been pregnant for two or 

 thi'ee months, and especially those which have been put to the Stallion 

 early in the year, will e.xhibit indications of (i^strum when the weather 

 becomes warmer and the pastures afford more nutriment. When in 

 this state the female may again accept the male, and it may even 

 happen that a second fecundation takes place at this time — thus 

 occasioning those somewhat unusual conceptions which give rise to 

 superfa'tation ; though if pregnancy is somewhat advanced it is danger- 

 ous, and may occasion abortion. A story is told of a Mare in the 

 Saint-Leger stud, France, which, after being pregnant for some months, 

 yet showed symptoms of " heat." Louis XIV., who was more inclined 

 to favour the desix^es of the animal than to listen to the opinion of 

 Garsault, the famous equestrian of that period, ordered her to be put 

 to the Stallion. This was done, copulation took place, and the Mare 

 aborted. 



Stallions exclusively employed for breeding, frequently refuse to 

 approach pregnant iMares in which the " heat" persists or reappears; 

 though this is not always the case, particularly with young Stallions. 



In the Cow, as in the Mare, oestrum may continue or reappear after 

 fecundation ; though as a rule, I believe, the male refuses to copulate 

 again when the female is in this condition. " Very often," says 

 Grognier, " the Mare and Sheep, as well as the Cow, manifest signs of 

 'heat' ; but the Bull, better than the Stallion or Earn, knows the in- 

 dications of gestation, and abstains from having intercourse with Cows 

 which are in this state." M. Magne remarks that the Bull accustomed 

 to consort with pregnant Cows, smells at them as it does at others going 

 with it, but without being excited by their emanations. Exceptionally, 

 however, it must be noted that Cows have been known to manifest 

 a-strum regularly, and to receive the Bull, even a month before parturi- 

 tion. But these instances are very rare For cattle, therefore, it is an 

 almost certain sign of pregnancy when the Bull refuses a Cow, though 

 the latter may be in heat. 



With Sheep a'strum may continue after fecundation, and the Ram 

 may copulate with them. 



In general terms, then, it may be repeated that the cessation of 

 cestrum before its regular period, and soon after copulation, indicates 

 that conception has taken place ; that its persistence or reappearance 

 in the Mare and Sheep some time after the first copulation, does not 

 absolutely imply that impregnation has not occurred, even though the 

 male again consorts ; but if it frequently appears it is a presumption 

 that the female is not only not pregnant, but that fecundation is not 

 readily induced. 



It has been generally observed that a change takes place in the char- 

 acter of the animal which has conceived, and this sometimes almost 

 immediately after conception ; the change being something analogous 

 to that produced after castration. Mares which were previously vicious, 



