JiYSTOKIA Fi:OM I'ELl'IC CONSTRICTION. IW 



cotyloid portion being completely isolated from the ischium, ilium, 

 and pubis ; the twelfth is a fracture of the external angle of the ilium. 

 Lanzillotti-Buonsanti states that the Pathological Museum of the 

 Milan Veterinary School contains a coxa which shows a fracture of 

 the neck of the ilium, with overlapping of the disunited portions; and 

 also a pelvis in wliich the pubic portion of the symphysis has sustained 

 a comminuted fracture. 



Much will depend, of course, upon the nature and the scat of the 

 fracture. When it is only the outer angle of the ilium (point of 

 haunch), and even when the fractured bone is displaced by the action 

 of the small oblique muscles of the abdomen and the fascia lata, pro- 

 ducing nmch external deformity, no gi^eat effect can be produced on 

 the act of parturition, as this part has notliing to do with the pelvic 

 cavity. But when the whole of one side of the haunch is lower than 

 the other, delivery is then undoubtedly interfered with, and perhaps 

 to a most serious extent ; inasmuch as some one of the parts which 

 concur in forming the pelvic cavity is implicated in the fracture, and 

 consequently the external deformity corresponds to an internal diminu- 

 tion and irregularity in its diameters, from displaced fragments of bone, 

 overlapping of fractured ends, the approach of the sacrum to the pubis, 

 and consequent lessening of the inlet of this cavity, as well as to the 

 more or less voluminous deposit of bone around the fractured portions 

 (Kig. <s3). Many cases are on record of ditticulty in parturition from 

 this deformity. 



Fractures of the pelvis are by no means infrequent in animals, and 

 are due to falls, crushing, blows, or other causes ; and, as the above 

 instances testify, they may prove insurmountable obstacles in parturi- 

 tion. Female animals which have sustained an injury of this kind 

 should not be employed for breeding purposes, unless a careful exami- 

 nation has shown that it has not altered the pelvic diameters in such a 

 way as to render delivery difficult. 



Such an alteration may be diagnosed by depression of the haunch or 

 croup, and lameness to a more or less appreciable extent ; while rectal 

 or vaginal exploration will discover the presence of a variable-sized 

 hard tumour forming part of the bone, and projecting into the cavity. 

 Tl>e previous history of the animal may also aid in confirming the 

 diagnosis. 



Fractures of the pelvis may also take place durin</ parturition, and 

 RuetT mentions two instances in which they have occurred sponta- 

 neously during very violent labour pains. 



In the latter instances, there may have existed a predisposition due 

 to a diseased condition of the bones — a predisposition not uncommon 

 in breeding animals. 



TUMDUiiS IN THK PkLVIC C.WITY. 



Tumours of various kinds — such as fibromata, melanotic and cancerous 

 tumours, in addition to those of a bony character due to injury — 

 may prove a cause of dystokia ; abscess may also co-exist with 

 pregnancy, and be a source of ditliculty in parturition. But that form 

 of melanosis which appears in grey animals, and particularly manifests 

 itself in the form of tumours at the root of the tail, around the anus, 

 and in the connective tissue of the pelvis, should oflfer the most frequent 

 obstacle to delivery. 



