576 ACCIDENTS AFTER PARTURITION. 



Treatvient. 



The essential indication in the treatment, is to suppress the haemor- 

 rhage as speedily as possible ; the next, to sustain the vital powers of 

 the animal. 



If the fcetal membranes have not been expelled, they must be re- 

 moved without delay — yet as gently as possible ; for until their removal 

 is effected the uterus will probably not contract. The contraction of 

 the organ is very important, and when the membranes are present it 

 often happens that the manipulation required to remove them brings 

 about this result. If the membranes are not present, then the hand 

 and arm must be pushed into the uterus and gently moved about, in 

 order to excite contraction, if the organ is flaccid and uncontracted. At 

 the same time its interior should be freed from the blood and clots it 

 may contain ; cold-water douches must be applied to the loins and 

 vulva, as well as injections of the same into the uterus. If deemed 

 necessary, a towel, or sheet steeped in cold water, or a large sponge 

 impregnated with vinegar-and-water, perchloride of iron, or any other 

 styptic, may be passed into the vagina, or even into the uterine cavity. 



Should the haemorrhage persist, revulsives in the form of mustard 

 cataplasms or stimulating liniments may be applied to distant parts of 

 the body — as the chest, neck, or limbs. Internally, tannic acid, salts 

 of lead and morphia, perchloride of iron, tincture of ergot of rye, or any 

 other agent likely to act as a haemostatic, may be administered. 



Hypodermic injections of morphia have been recommended, and 

 large doses of oil of turpentine — for the Cow from three to five ounces, 

 mixed with the contents of half a dozen eggs — have been successfully 

 employed by Macgillivray. 



CHAPTEK III. 



Inversion of the Uterus. 



Inversion, procidence, prolapse of the uterus, or vagiiio-uteral inversion, 

 signifies a displacement or kind of hernia of the organ, which is partially 

 or completely turned inside out — the inverted fundus escaping through 

 the OS uteri {partial inversion), vagina, and vulva, and perhaps descend- 

 ing as low as the hocks [complete inversion), where it forms a more or 

 less voluminous tumour. 



When the inversion is very partial, nothing whatever is seen exter- 

 nally, and an exploration alone reveals the existence of the accident ; if 

 more developed, the uterus appears as a round tumour between the 

 labia of the vulva when the animal is lying, and especially if the floor of 

 the stall slopes backwards, which causes the gastro-intestinal mass to 

 press upon the organ. Sometimes the procidence is so very slight that 

 there is merely a bulging inwards of the fundus of the uterus, or of one 

 of the cornua. 



In complete inversion there is frequently prolapsus of a portion of the 

 vagina, which appears in two forms or degrees, according as there is 

 inversion of the body of the uterus, or inversion of the cornua as well ; 

 sometimes it is only one cornu, which is then deviated to the right or 

 left of the vertical direction of the body of the organ, just as it happens 

 to be one or other of these parts. If both cornua are completely 

 inverted, they terminate inferiorly in the form of a cone ; but if they are 



