DISEASES INCIDENTAL TO l'i:EQNANCY. 185 



If it causes inconvenience, frictions witli soap or turpentine liniments, 

 bandaging, or even slight scarifications, may be employed ; but the 

 occasions for these must be very rare indeed. 



ni/dranniios, or Hydrops Amnii. 

 When there is an unusual secretion of the amniotic and allantoic 

 fluids, it constitutes what has been termed " dropsy of the amnion " 

 {hydrops amnii or hydrainnios) ; though, as Saint-Cyr remarks, as there 

 may also be an increase of the allantoic fluid, it would be more exact 

 to designate it " dropsy of the fuetal envelopes." This condition, when 

 very marked, is serious for the mother as well as the foetus. A number 

 of cases have been recorded, and Saint-Cyr has enumerated sixteen, 

 thirteen of which occurred in the Bovine, two in the Equine, and one in 

 the Caprine species ; one has also been observed in the Bitch. Gierer, 

 who has published an interesting account of several cases, observes 

 that it is most frequently met with in poor, badly fed animals — and 

 particularly in Cows, in which improper hygiene has produced a morbid 

 excitement of the generative organs ; the result of which is that 

 exosmosis and endosmosis do not take place equally through the walls 

 of the placentae and placentulie. 



Symptoms. — It is not until the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy, or 

 even later, that indications of this condition are evident. Then the 

 abdomen rapidly enlarges, especially to one side — generally the right ; 

 and fn a short time it has acquired a greater volume than it has towards 

 the end of gestation. At this period the health becomes deranged, and 

 colic, with or without tympanitis, is not unfrequent. General debility 

 is so marked that the animal can scarcely, if at all, stand ; the appetite 

 is lost, rumination is suspended, defecation and micturition are irregular, 

 cedematous swelling of the limbs and abdomen ensue, with dyspnoea, 

 which increases so quickly in intensity that asphyxia is often innninent. 

 The muscular parietes of the abdomen have in some cases been rup- 

 tured, and the entire mass of the uterus, with its contents, has formed 

 a subcutaneous liernia. The ordinary period of gestation may be com- 

 pleted ; or abortion may occur at the seventh or eighth month, when all 

 the indications of such an occurrence are present. The uterine contrac- 

 tions, owing to the relaxed condition of this organ, and its distended 

 and paralysed fibres, are weak, the pains feeble and unsustained, 

 the OS does not dilate, and the act of parturition is consequently 

 tedious. 



Diagnosis.— The state of the abdomen miglit lead to the supposition 

 that the case was one of tympanitis or twin pregnancy, .\bdominal 

 percussion, and the " touch," as well as auscultation, should aid in 

 diagnosing this condition. Rectal examination will reveal the immense 

 size of the uterus, which forms a great globular mass in the abdominal 

 cavity, and almost completely fills the pelvis, though nothing of a fcrtus 

 can be detected ; while vaginal exploration discovers the cervix uteri 

 eff'aced, the os closed, and the posterior part of the uterus projecting 

 more or less into the vagina ; pressure on this prominent portion proves 

 that it contains fluid, though usually no fa-tus can be felt, as it is 

 beyond the touch, and almost lost in the small ocean of fluid surrounding 

 it. In rare cases the os is partially dilated, and the fcctal membranes 

 protruding more or less into the vagina ; usually, however, scarcely one 

 or two fingers can be introduced into it. 



