572 ACCWEXTS AFTER PAIiTCrJTIOX. 



of the arm. Moderate traction, however, on the part just detached 

 will bring the others nearer, and facilitate the task ; but the traction 

 must be judiciously managed, so as to avoid tearing the membranes or 

 the adherent cotyledons, invagination of the cornu, or even inversion 

 of the uterus. So likely is this accident to happen, that some practi- 

 tioners, instead of pulling at the membranes in this way in order to 

 disunite the most distant cotyledons, are content to await their natural 

 separation, merely tying near the vulva the portion of the membranes 

 separated, and cutting away the parts beyond — the separation generally 

 occurring in from two to five days. To facilitate traction, Gunther 

 recommends that the abdomen of the animal should be well raised by 

 a plank placed under it, and held by assistants. 



It has sometimes been found, as already mentioned, that the greater 

 part of the membranes has been expelled, when all at once expulsion 

 ceased, notwithstanding the volume and weight of the pendulous mass, 

 which caused so much disturbance to the animal that it has refused to 

 eat, persisted in lying, and when compelled to get up has kept stamping 

 its hind-feet until it could lie dow^n again. On introducing the hand 

 into the uterus, it is discovered that this unusual interruption to the 

 expulsion has been occasioned by one or two large maternal cotyledons 

 becoming entangled in the loop of a fold of the membranes. Sometimes 

 the drag on these cotyledons has been so great that they have been 

 brought as far as, or even beyond, the os. Eelief has been given by 

 cutting the membranes off by scissors, close to the vulva, and then 

 releasing the cotyledons. 



When extraction of the membranes has been properly conducted, 

 there is no haemorrhage ; if bleeding ensues, then one or more of the 

 maternal cotyledons have been injured, or perhaps torn off altogether 

 — an accident not without danger sometimes, and all the more serious 

 if a number of the cotyledons is involved. This injury may lead, in 

 addition to haemorrhage, to uterine irritation, metritis, or uterine 

 phlebitis. 



Still, such an untoward accident is not always the result of injury 

 to the cotyledons, as instances are recorded in which great numbers, 

 or even the whole of the maternal placentae, have been torn away by 

 ignorant empirics, and yet the animals have survived ; at the commence- 

 ment of this work it has been shown that fecundation and gestation 

 may even take place after ablation of the cotyledons. Nevertheless, 

 these cases must be looked upon as entirely exceptional, and should not 

 be relied upon as evidence that these bodies can be injured with 

 impunity. 



The disaggregation of the placentae has been, in some instances, 

 greatly facilitated by injecting into the vagina, os, and uterus a small 

 quantity (1 to 2 drachms) of tincture of veratrin (1 to 25), which 

 produces continuous expulsive efforts, and in a few hours slight traction 

 will remove the membranes. With the same object, some practitioners 

 have successfully injected a quantity of warm water into the uterine 

 cavity. 



In order to be assured that the whole of the foetal envelopes has 

 been removed from the uterus, it is well to make an examination of 

 them. Knowing their formation and extent, there should be no diffi- 

 culty in ascertaining whether they are all present. 



After the removal of the membranes, there remains in the uterus a 

 quantity of thick, grumous, diversely-coloured, and more or less un- 



