OEMELLIPARUUS A.\l> Mri/J'l r.inoUS rUE'iyjM'Y. 157 



Rainard ^'ives two instances ; and Haiuon mentions a littli- lireton C<>\v which, in l.SfiS, 

 I«roductd four Calves -two male and two female, tin- last two dyinir soon after hirth. 

 (lellti jjive." a remarkable instance of a Cow which, in 1S37, had three Calves, in IS.'iS two, 

 in 183y two, in I^IO two, and in IMl four 1 One of the last was a heifer ; all were well 

 develoj)ed and successfully reared, and the last four, at five weeks old, weighed about 

 forty-five pounds each. 



The Ji'ttue Wtaiitaire of Toulouse (February, 1876) gives a case of (|uadrigemellar 

 parturition in a Durham Cow, ai;;fd twenty-two montha, near Kochefort. Birth occurred 

 naturally in an hour ; two cow-cnlves were first born, then two males ; three did not live 

 l>eyond an hour, the other survived thirty-six hours. 



In the Ettit Saiiilain of the Domestic Animals in Belgium for 1877 (p. 87) mention is 

 made of a Cow, seven months pregnant, which for eighteen days had fallen into such a 

 state of tlebility that she could not rise, and she hail also com[)letelv lost her appetite. 

 She was killed, and at the autopsy fourf<etuses were found. Thesn weighed re-pectively 

 10.]j, ll.\, I'J^, and 14 kilogrammes. Three were females. 



An instance is given by Saint Cyr as occurring at Beaujeu in 1881. Tliis was a Cow 

 which had pnniuced one calf at each of three births, three Calves twice, and at last four 

 Calves ; all were strong and lively, and were reared. 



The I'fli rinariitn (vol. xiii., p. ">7iM gives an account of a delivery, with assistance, of 

 four dead Calves. This journal also (vol. xiv., p. 1.".) records a case in which, with 

 assistance, a Cow was delivered of four Calves— two dead at birth and two alive, though 

 these soon expired. They were properly developed, and appeared to have been healthy 

 up to parturition ; they weighed, respectively, '25\, 24, 17f, and 17} lbs. From the 

 structure of the placenta, it was concluded that each fietus had been contained in a 

 t-eparate membrane and fluid. The birth was premature by two months and nine days. 

 In the same journal (vol. xvii., p. 421) another (piadruple birth is described ; the Calves 

 Were well developed and all born alive, though tliey soon after died. 



According to the Che.idr Chronicle (March [>, 1 "< 17), a Cow brought forth three Calves, 

 and in three days a fourth. All died soon after. The Field (December 7, 1872) describes 

 the birth of four Calves by a Cow about four years old, and which had twins at a previous 

 calving. One Calf died, but the others did well. The Lirerpool Mtrriiry (March 28, 

 1S45) reports a Cow as having proluced four Calves — full-sized, but dead. Kddow's 

 ShreirMbuti/ Journal (July 29, 1846) alludes to a Cow which gave birth to four bull-calves, 

 three of which lived. 



Mr. Cartwright, of Whitchurch, gives an instance of four Calves at a birth. The Cow 

 and Calves died soon after. 



In the Field for March 29, 1879, mention is made of a shorthorn Cow which produced 

 four Calves at a birth — two male and two female —all alive, and five weeks old when 

 reported. She was six years old, and lost condition very consideralily for .'«ome time 

 before calving : she was almost ho{)ele3.sly weak for weeks after that event, but ultimately 

 did well. .\11 the C.ilves were white. 



.\ farmer at Nttherseal, England, owned a Cow that gave birth to four Calves, two of 

 them bulls, all w ell developed. The next day one died, but the others lived and did well, 

 a.s did also their dam. 



A Cow in Norfolk, eleven years old, was delivered of four full-grown Calves, but none 

 of them survived. 



Quintuple pre^'nancy is, of course, more rare in tlie Cow. 



In the (liornnlf di Vrte_riiiari<i for June. iS.'i.'i, Professor Lessona, of Turin, de«cril)e« 

 a (|uintuple l>irthin a Cow in Piedmont. The animal was twenty days frcmi its full time. 

 The abdomen was very voluminous, but Ix-yond the premature delivery there was nothing 

 unusual attending the liirth. The progeny consi?>te I of three females and two males, and 

 each weighed about 37 A psxinds. They were healthy ;iud fully developed ; but the 

 mother, either through her premature delivery or from age, was unable t<j suckle them, 

 and they were put to another Cow whose milk pmved unsuitable for them, as tliey had 

 sn attack of indigestion, and in about eight days after birth all were dead. Les.sona 

 thinks two were lodged in the same envelope in each horn, and that the fifth fietiH, with 

 a single placenta, <K;cupied the body of the uterus with iti proper envelopes. A singular 

 fact was their Ix-ing all presented for delivery in a normal jxisition — a very extraordinary 

 circumstance. The Cow had pro<luced twin Culves the preceding year. 



Schumann, in 18.")4, rejKirts a quintuple birth — all males, and deafi -bom. RuefT records 

 another, in which all the Calves lived— and one which r>cciirred at Havingen, in a five- 

 year-old Cow. Baron also refers to a similar instance. Mr. 'iarrard, of Ticknall, how- 

 ever, has a more favourable report of a birtb of this kind. In 1854 a Cow gave birth to 



