DEVIATION OF THE UTERUS. ;J07 



serious obstacles to delivery. With quadrupeds, however, in which 

 the uterus is horizontal, the veterinary obstetrist has but to deal with 

 one kind of deviation of the uterus, the only one possible — that of 

 inferior obliquiti/, which appears to be extremely rare, and corresponds 

 to antevei'sion in the human female. 



Accordinj^ to some authorities, who have more particularly studied it, 

 this change in position may, in certain circumstances, become a very 

 serious cause of dystokia. 



The accident has, up to the present time, only been observed in the 

 Cow ; and this circumstance is believed to be explained by an interesting 

 feature in the anatomy of tliis animal, which has been brought under 

 notice by Professor Goubaux, of the Alfort Veterinax-y School. 



It would appear that in Bovines, as noted at p. 18, the abdominal 

 nuiscles are not attached to the anterior border of the pubis as in 

 Solipeds, but are inserted into a thick ligament found at the external 

 and inferior part of the pubic bones, and which strengthens the 

 symphysis pubis. It consequently happens that, at this border of these 

 bones, the floor of the abdomen is on a lower plane than that of the 

 pelvic cavity ; so that there is a kind of step between the two cavities, 

 the height of which varies in different animals, but has been found to 

 be as much as three, four, and even live inches. Dissection has demon- 

 strated that the peritoneum lining the lower surface of the abdominal 

 cavity, on arriving at the pubis ascends this step, in covering it like a 

 carpet, to line the upper surface of the pubic bones and tlie anterior 

 part of the pelvic cavity. 



From this anatomical peculiarity, it may happen that the fundus of 

 the gravid uterus, instead of being directed forward, will incline directly 

 downwards and lie on this pelvic step, not passing beyond the umbilicus, 

 behind which it may even rest sometimes. At the same time, and as 

 a consequence of this arrangement, the other end — the cervix — is tilted 

 upwards in the direction of the sacro-vertebral angle, and it may even 

 compress the rectum against that part. It will be obvious that, through 

 this great deviation in the direction of the cervix, the os no longer cor- 

 responds to the axis of the vagina, the canal following, of course, the 

 same oblique ascending line as the cervix. Such an alteration in the 

 position of the uterus entails a similar change in the attitude of the 

 f(rtu3, which, instead of being placed almost horizontally, is now more 

 or less vertical — the head towards the sacrum, and the buttocks resting 

 on the pubic step. 



During parturition we may easily understand how affairs are 

 changed with regard to the performance of this act. The uterine 

 contractions are no longer directed towards the cer\'ix ; the os only 

 dilates slowly or not at all, according to the degree of uterine obliquity; 

 the animal is exhausted with ineffectual attempts to expel the ftptus ; 

 and if assistance is not rendered, it may succumb without being 

 delivered, or the uterus may rupture. If the position of the ftrtus is 

 abnormal, then the case is still worse, so far as artificial delivery is 

 concerned. Garreau has observed that labour may be suspended alto- 

 gether ; the foetus dies, becomes mummified, and is retained for perhaps 

 a very long time. 



Diagnosis. 



The diagnosis of this deviation does not appear to be attended with 

 much difficulty. The long duration of labour, and the inutility of the 



