TORSIOX OF THE UTERUS. 811 



attention to it, was Mazure, whose description is one of the best we 

 possess. It is published in the same periodical which contains Lecoq's 

 account. From liis narrative, it appears that he was consulted by one 

 of his colleagues with regard to a Cow, the cervix of whose uterus was 

 so twisted that a linger could not enter the os. Ma/.ure gave an 

 unfavourable prognosis ; but, notwithstanding, it was attempted to 

 reduce the torsion by making an opening in the right Hank in order to 

 reach the uterus. The attempt failed, though it demonstrated that 

 there was a quantity of fcetid serosity and fibrinous flakes in the peri- 

 toneal cavity ; that the uterus had a rupture in its left posterior border, 

 the rent being rounded in form and having a diameter of from twenty 

 to twenty-four centimetres ; and that the fcctus was dead, as had been 

 suspected. 



.\s nothing more could be done with the Cow, it was destroyed, and 

 it was then discovered that the uterus had made a complete revolution 

 on its axis ; while towards the part adjoining the cervix, there were 

 found live spiral twists, two of which, more voluminous than the others, 

 were of a greyish colour and hard in texture. Throughout the whole 

 extent of these twists in the uterus, the connective tissue, infiltrated 

 with serosity, formed a swelling which rendered the dilatation of the 

 posterior part, and the passage of the Calf through it, most difficult. 

 The foetus was perfectly developed and intact, and did not appear to 

 have been dead more than two or three days. 



Another Norman veterinax-ian, Pouchy, described four cases about 

 the same period. These Cows merely suffered from loss of appetite, 

 great distention of the abdomen, unhealthy-looking coat, a foetid and 

 sanguinolent vaginal discharge, and suppression of milk, for six to 

 eight weeks ; when submitted to treatment, and turned out to pasture, 

 they recovered sufliciently to become fit for the butcher. 



In Cerniany, about the same time, according to Dieterich, torsion of 

 the uterus had been the subject of investigation and treatment by 

 Schmidt of Bavaria, Vix of (iiessen, Fricke of Hanover, and Irminger. 

 Fricke cured a case by fastening the feet together, two by two, and roll- 

 ing the animal in a contrary direction to that in which the uterus was 

 twisted. 



In Britain, in the same year that Reichner described the accident 

 in Switzerland (1H40), Mr. Carlisle, of Wigton, under the head of 

 " ('asarian Operation "' describes an undoubted case of torsion. The 

 circumstance which rendered the operation necessary, was a severe 

 injury the animal had received two days previously, since when it 

 had manifested symptoms of parturition ; but though several attempts 

 had been made to extract the fo-tus, delivery could not be accomplished 

 minnij to the uterus being tu-isted Caesarian section having delivered 

 the Calf and its membranes, the Cow only lived a short time. The 

 uterus was found to be " completely rotated, even to the termination of 

 tlie vagina." 



After this period, torsion of the uterus attracted a large share of 

 attention among the most accomplished Continental veterinarians, and 

 particularly after the observations published by Denoc, in France, in 

 184j. It formed the subject of animated and interesting discussions at 

 the Belgian Sociote de Medicine, the Societe Central de Med. Veterin- 

 aire of Paris in 1853 and ISGO, the Veterinary Society of Wurtemberg 

 in IH.54, and that of Denmark in 1855 ; and memoirs on it have been 

 ' I'tterinarian. vol. xiii., p. 407. 



