200 PA T HO LOG Y OF PREGXA NCY. 



favourable termination of such a condition is due to the membranes 

 of the foetus remaining intact, and the os sufficiently contracted and 

 close to exclude the atmosphere. Even under these circumstances, 

 the retention of the foetus may not have so fortunate an ending. 

 Very often, after fruitless straining, the animal continues unwell ; it 

 has little or no appetite, languishes, becomes feeble ; hectic fever 

 appears ; it falls into a state of marasmus, and dies after a more or 

 less prolonged period of misery. 



"When, at the usual time of parturition, the straining of the animal 

 has ruptured the foetal membranes and the liquor amnii escapes, air at 

 the same time obtaining access to the uterine cavity, the case is in 

 nearly every instance very serious. The foetus soon perishes and begins 

 to putrefy, and in a short time the decomposing mass causes inflamma- 

 tion of the uterus (metritis), accompanied by frequent and exceedingly 

 severe straining ; low fever supervenes ; a foul-smelling putrescent fluid 

 escapes from the vagina, and the creature finally succumbs to metritis 

 and putrid infection. In other instances the termination is not so 

 rapid. The animal remains unhealthy ; the secretion of milk is sus- 

 pended ; horribly foetid discharges are passed jjcr vaginam, containing 

 pus, broken-up decomposed tissues, and even bones of the foetus ; these 

 discharges are increased by the straining which sometimes takes place 

 at intervals. In the meantime, the creature loses condition, emaciation 

 becomes extreme, and death ensues from debility and marasmus. 



With the Cow we may, nevertheless, have a vaginal discharge, 

 due to the presence of a putrefying foetus, and for a long time, with- 

 out any such serious result. Figuier removed from the uterus of a 

 Cow the entire skeleton of a foetus which had been there for more 

 than Jive years, without giving rise to any other symptoms than a 

 very disgusting intermittent vaginal discharge. The animal quite re- 

 covered. Thierry reports the abortion of a Cow at the fifth month of 

 gestation, and the retention of the putrefied foetus for more than three 

 months afterwards, without any harm ensuing ; Gervy also removed the 

 head of a foetus which had lain in the uterus of a Cow for eighteen 

 months, without the animal suffering much inconvenience during that 

 time. In the Veterinarian (vol. ix., p. 454) there is an instance of a Cow 

 carrying a decomposing Calf for two years with impunity ; and another 

 (vol. xxix., p. 577) for ten months. 



It is not the same with the Mare, as death has been the usual ter- 

 mination ; but it would appear, as already remarked, that retention of 

 the foetus is very unusual indeed in this animal, the best recorded 

 instances being one by Hamon, in which death took place after seventeen 

 months' pregnancy ; and another by Hammond, when the same result 

 followed after twenty-two months. 



The period during which a foetus may be retained in the uterus varies 

 from a few months to five years. 



We have mentioned that, in these cases of retention, the foetus may 

 live for a certain time, provided the membranes are not ruptured when 

 the symptoms of parturition first manifest themselves ; it may even 

 continue to develop, as is evidenced by its size, its bony framework, 

 hoofs, teeth, etc., which often cause it to look like an animal that has 



I have some instances of 300 days' pregnancy in Cows, the calves being born alive. 



In the Mare, prolonged pregnancy is not nearly so frequent, though it sometimes 

 occurs, the foetus being retained a month, or even a little longer, without prejudice to the 

 Foal's existence. 



