msEASES i>F TlIK FiETL'S. 3S5 



This accumulation of Huid takes place in the ventricles of the brain, 

 as has been ascertained from dissection by liainard, Taiche, Chouard, 

 Axe, and others, who have found the tumour formed externally by the 

 skin, and internally by the membranes of the brain, to which adhered a 

 thin layer of cerebral substance. The spinal cord, plexus choroides, and 

 cerebellum, have been generally observed to be intact, and only the 

 cerebral hemispheres are destroyed more or less completely. 



Thou^'h this alteration, or rather destruction, of the brain is of so 

 serious a character, and thougii it must have be^'un at an early period 

 of uterine life, yet it does not appear to liave much influence on the 

 development of the fa'tus ; as tliis is usually found to be full grown, its 

 skin covered with hair, and well formed everywhere except in the head. 

 Exceptional cases occur, however, in which development is arrested; 

 as in some mentioned by Lecoq, of hydrocephalic Calves whose limbs 

 were atrophied and the bones cartilaginous. 



If intra-uterine existence can be maintained by the hydrocephalic 

 foetus until the period of parturition, it generally perishes during birth 

 or soon after — usually after one or two respirations. In some excep- 

 tional cases, however, such creatures have lived to the eighth day after 



Fig. 100. 



EXTILVOKDINAKY DEVKLOPMKNT OK THK Ck.\MIM OK \ HyDKOCEPH.M.K' CaLF. 



birth, and they may survive even longer if the dropsy is not very ex- 

 tensive. 



\n the most favourable cases, nevertheless, there is little profit to be 

 expected from keeping such animals alive, as they are ordinarily weak 

 and thrive badly ; they can rarely stand, and they refuse the teat, being 

 usually in a semi-comatose state ; if the tumour chances to be pressed 

 upon, the young creature becomes completely unconscious and lies in 

 convulsions. 



Ver)- few cases of recovery, even in the mildest form of the malady, 

 are recorded. 



The obstacle this congenital condition of the fcctus presents during 

 birth, must, of course, depend upon the volume of the cranial tumour. 

 The birth of a hydrocephalic fcetus often takes place spontaneously, 

 though perhaps only after much straining. If the cranium is not very 

 large, and provided the labour pains are sufficiently energetic and the 

 position favourable, the tumour yields, and the head becomes elongated 

 in its passage through the os and the pelvis, or it may rupture internally 

 and the fluid escape by the ears, nostrils and eves. When extremely 



25 



