590 ACCIDENTS AFTER PARTURITION. 



union to the end. On this screwed portion moves a transverse piece 

 (C C), by its middle opening or female screw (E) ; this piece has open- 

 ings (G G) at its extremities which receive straps or cords. 



To use it, the ring and the three branches are dipped in melted wax, 

 then cooled, and again and again dipped and cooled, until the instru- 

 ment has acquired a sufficient volume, and the middle of the ring is 

 reduced to about one and a half inches. This prevents its injuring the 

 genital organs, when it is applied exactly in the same manner as the 

 preceding pessary — the cervix uteri being in the centre of the ring. 



A rondelle i^essary has been devised by Leblanc, and Eainard has 

 invented a pessary (similar to Fig. 210) for small animals. 



A bottle pessary has frequently done good service, when nothing more 

 suitable w^as at hand. An ordinary glass bottle, with a deep concave 

 and smooth bottom, has a long piece of wood fixed in the neck, and 

 can thus be made to act like the other pessaries ; but its weight is 

 objectionable, and there is also the danger of its breaking. 



A very ancient pessary — employed even by the Greeks of an early 

 period — and one which has been most usefully resorted to by Tolney, 

 Laubender, Willburg, and others, is the bladder of the Pig or Ox. 

 When required for use, the bladder is steeped in warm water, then a 

 long wooden tube, or a piece of india-rubber tubing, is fastened to the 

 neck of it ; the bladder is introduced into the uterus and inflated, when 

 the tube is closed. Eainard recommends that it be only placed in the 

 vagina ; but the majority of obstetrists prefer it in the uterus. It has 

 been allowed to remain there as long as ten to fourteen days. 



For valuable animals, it has been suggested that Gariel's air pessary 

 might be employed. This acts on the same principle as the bladder ; 

 in fact, it is an india-rubber bladder inflated by means of a long tube 

 with a stop-cock. This tube may be in connection wnth another bag 

 and stop- cock, the former being already filled with air, which can be 

 transferred to the other bag when it is placed in the vagina or uterus. 



The smaller animals rarely require pessaries of this description ; 

 though there is no reason why, if necessary, modifications of the three 

 first, on a proportionately small scale, might not be employed. The 

 ring might be made of india-rubber, or cork. For the Bitch more 

 particularly, the cuvette pessary has been recommended and used. 

 This is an imitation of that employed for woman, and is merely an 

 oval, circular, or oblong piece, made of gum, india-rubber, gutta-percha, 

 or ivory, one to two inches in diameter, and having a hole in the 

 middle. When required to be introduced, this pessary is well oiled ; 

 the narrow end is passed edgeways into the vulva, and the piece is 

 pushed beyond the bulb of the vagina. Then, by means of the index- 

 finger, it is placed vertically, the hole in the middle allowing the finger 

 to fix it in the centre of the vulva, its two ends being retained by the 

 branches of the ilium, or at least in front of the ischium and the bulb. 



A spring or elastic pessary, such as is now frequently employed for 

 woman, and which can be more easily introduced into the vagina, might 

 be useful with the smaller domesticated animals. 



Salt, of Birmii:igham, has introduced into human gynaecology a new 

 flexible annular pessary, which might be advantageously employed by 

 the veterinarian for small animals. It consists of a watch-spring coiled 

 spirally, with the extremities left free, and encased in caoutchouc ; it 

 collapses for introduction, and when in situ it expands to the circular 



