SKijrKL.K i>F r.inTI/KITIoX. 215!) 



eventually reduce the organ to its ordinary volume and so diminish 

 its cavity. After an easy labour, there are generally few or no 

 symptoms of these pains ; and when they are present the only indi- 

 cations are whisking of the tail, at which time the walls of the abdon)eu 

 appear to be harder. They seldom continue longer than twelve or 

 twenty-four hours in these cases, and do not require special treatment. 

 In other cases, however, and particularly when birth has been very 

 sudden and rapid, they persist longer and are more severe. The animal 

 paws and exhibits suttering ; it also stretches as if trying to micturate, 

 arches the back, contracts the abdominal muscles, and strains. The 

 access of these attacks is not regular ; and when they are frequent, 

 severe, and continue beyond twenty-four hours, we may apprehend the 

 retention of a portion of the foetal membranes in the uterus, or com- 

 mencing inversion of that organ. This will necessitate an exploration, 

 in order to discover the cause ; which, when ascertained, should receive 

 appropriate treatment, to be hereafter described. 



2. Lochia. — The term lochia has been given to the sanguinolent, sero- 

 sanguinolent, muco-purulent, and, finally, mucus evacuations from the 

 vagina occurring after parturition, and generally persisting until the 

 uterus has regained its ante-pregnant condition. The existence of this 

 evacuation, so marked in woman, has often been denied in animals ; 

 but there can be no doubt whatever as to the fact of its presence. It 

 has been witnessed by several veterinarians in the Mare, Cow, Sheep, 

 and Bitch, and we have noted it repeatedly in the Sow and Cat. But 

 it is considerably less in these animals than in woman, and does not 

 flow continuously as in her, but at irregular peinods ; the discharge 

 accumulates in the uterus, and only escapes when the animal undergoes 

 exertion, and in defecation or micturition. In the Cat, however, we 

 have witnessed this discharge — very "flight — flowing constantly for four 

 days after parturition ; and with the Bitch we have a sanguinolent, 

 then a mucus discharge persisting almost continuously for several days 

 subsequent to that event. 



In the larger animals, this discharge can be seen about the inferior 

 commissure of the vulva ; it sometimes accumulates about the thighs 

 and tail in flakes and patches, as well as on the litter ; and when the 

 animal has been lying it forms small pools on tlie ground. 



When we remember that the uterus has for a long period nourished 

 one or more fcctuses, we can scarcely wonder that it cannot all at once 

 cease its secretory function, and that its mucous membrane should con- 

 tinue in a hypera3mic condition until the lacteal secretion in the 

 mammic is fully established. As much as seven to eight quarts of 

 sero-sanguinolent fluid have been removed from the uterine cavity of a 

 Mare which had foaled three days previously. 



When not mixed with blood, this discharge is albuminous and 

 chylous-looking ; it is rarely purulent, and then probably only from 

 traumatic causes ; neither does it have a bad odour, unless the uterus or 

 vagina is the seat of some pathological process, or a portion of the 

 placenta is retained. According to some authorities, the average dura- 

 tion of the discharge is from two to three weeks ; but Saint-Cyr believes 

 that when it is prolonged beyond five to eight days, it is no longer a phy- 

 siological, but a pathological process. This is about the period which is 

 necessary, in the larger animals, for the return of the vulva to its 

 normal dimensions and ordinary form. - ^ 



f\ 



