ACCIDEXTS OF r/!K';.\.l.\ry. 19! 



tinue until after parturition. It docs not demand any attention, unless 

 the udder is very large and hard, when it would be beneficial to draw 

 the teats frequently. 



CHAPTER III. 

 Accidents of Pregnancy. 



Though a distinction between the diseases and accidents of pre^'nancy 

 cannot always be readily drawn, yet for convenience we follow Saint- 

 Cyr in allotting to a separate chapter those conditions or diseases which 

 may be due to accidental causes, operating either externally or inter- 

 nally. These are prolapsus of the vagina, henna of the uterus, rupture 

 of the uterus, metrorrhagia, abnormal retention of the fn'tn-o and abo7-- 

 tion. 



Antk-i'Aktim Pholapsuk or thk Vagina. 



Prolapsus vagiuie, or itivcrsio vagi)ue, has been observed, so far as 

 I can ascertain, most frequently in the Cow and Sheep ; rarely in the 

 Mare or Bitch. It consists in the protrusion, or i^ushing backwards, of 

 the vagina by the uterus and its contents during pregnancy, the tumour 

 it forms appearing between (inversio vagime incompleta), or external to 

 (invcrsio vagime completa), the labia of the vulva. It must not be con- 

 founded with post-partum prolapsus. This accident is peculiar to 

 pregnancy, and may occur in well-shaped Cows, but whose tissues, and 

 especially those of the genital organs, are soft and relaxed — animals of 

 a lymphatic temperament, good milkers, with a wide pelvis, and which 

 are fed on an abundance of bulky but innutritions food. Keeping such 

 Cows on a floor sloping too much to the rear, as well as falls, injuries 

 of different kinds, distention of the rumen, fatigue, etc., arc all likely to 

 lead to this accident in such animals, when pregnant. It is observed, 

 though very rarely, in primiparu', and occurs most frequently after the 

 third or fourth gestation, the period of its appearance during tliat state 

 varying ; in certain Cows manifesting itself so early as the fifth month 

 (though this is rare), and oftenest at the end of the seventh or eighth 

 month, and even so late as twenty or fifteen days before delivery. 



The occurrence of the accident is made known by the appearance, at 

 the vulva, of a circular, bright-red tumour, depressed in the centre, and 

 of a variable but gradually increasing si/e as gestation advances, or the 

 exciting causes remain in operation — from the volume of a fist to that 

 of the head of a child or man, or even larger. At first it is only visible 

 when the animal is lying, and disappears when it gets up ; but when of 

 considerable volume it never entirely vanishes in the latter attitude, and 

 even when reduced by the hand the vulva renuiins larger than usual. 



If existing for some time, however, in certain cases infiltration takes 

 place and inflammation may ensue, when a large ajid somewhat dense 

 tumour projects permanently outside the vulva, the circumference of 

 the latter constricting it and rendering matters worse. The colour now 

 becomes a darker red, and even dark brown ; the tumour may be 

 abraded on the surface from the rubbing of the tail and contact with 

 the faDces and urine, while at its upper part can be seen the neck of the 

 uterus. The animal does not seem to be incommoded, unless it be of an 

 irritable disposition, when straining Jiay take place, and this increasing 

 in intensity, the cervix, and even a portion of the body of the uterus, 



