ACCIDENTS OF PliEGNANCY. 213 



guish an abortion takiuf; place from other accidents or diseases with which 

 it might be confounded ; 3. Keoognise tliat an abortion has taken place. 



1. Prognosticate an Abortion. — Suppose the owner of a pregnant 

 animal asks such a question as, " Will this creature carry its young the 

 full time?" this must be answered by another question, " What loads 

 you to think it will not ?" For there can be no doubt that, as has been 

 already asserted, there is a special predisposition in certain animals to 

 abort from the most trifling cause, and indeed without any evident 

 cause at all ; and yet they offer no visible indication of this tendency. 

 In this aspect of the question, it is always judicious to remember certain 

 maxims, the most important of which is that relating to several 

 previous miscarriages, before giving an opinion as to the probability of 

 such an accident ; and this opinion should be based on exact knowledge 

 of the causes capable of compromising the issue of pregnancy to which 

 the animal has been or is then exposed. The inquiry should be as com- 

 plete as possible, and then an opinion ought to be carefully given ; as 

 many of the causes of abortion are so very imperfectly known, and so 

 many circumstances may modify the predicted result, that in the 

 majority of cases it is only permissible to hazard presumptions which, 

 after all, are more or less uncertain. 



2. Jiccotjnise an Actual Abortion. — Here we have to distinguish an 

 abortion in process of accomplishment ; and at first sight nothing 

 would appear more easy, and, in fact, nothing is so easy if time be 

 allowed until all the characteristic symptoms attending the expulsion 

 of the foetus are plainly developed. But when the obstetrist is con- 

 sulted at the commencement — during the premonitory period, it may 

 be very embarrassing to give a decided opinion. In many cases, in- 

 deed, impending abortion is only announced — even for some days — by 

 such vague signs as an indefinable malaise, a peculiar dulness, inappe- 

 tence, laziness, perhaps a little fever, with pawing now and again, 

 agitation of the tail, and symptoms which might be taken for those of 

 slight colic. Saint-Cyr has known many good practitioners deceived 

 by these signs, and who have diagnosed either indigestion, gastro- 

 enteritis, or some other malady which disappeared — after the expulsion 

 of the fcL'tus ! Such a mistake is unfortunate for the reputation of the 

 veterinarian, as well as for the owner of the animal, whose interests 

 suffer ; as if a miscarriage had been diagnosed in proper time it might 

 have been prevented, and pregnancy allowed to run its normal course. 



To prevent such an error, it is well to know that a mistake is possible ; 

 80 that if called in to attend an animal offering some of the above- 

 enumerated symptoms, the first inquiry should be as to whether it is 

 pregnant ; then the external organs of generation — the vulva and 

 mammic — ought to be examined with the greatest care, and the actual 

 symptoms thoughtfully analysed. This being done, it will often be 

 found that this is a case of threatened abortion ; and tliat, when taken 

 in time, the accident can be averted by rational treatment. 



3. Recognise that an Abortion has taken place. — It may happen that 

 information is required as to whether abortion has occurred in an 

 animal ; though this information is far less likely to be sought from the 

 veterinarian than from the human obstetrist. In the absence of the 

 foetus or its envelopes, such a question is not easily answered with 

 regard to animals ; and the difficulty is increased if the foetus is un- 

 developed, and a long interval has elapsed since the presumed date of 

 the suspected abortion. Saint-Cyr is of opinion that, as a rule, it is 



