628 PATHOLOGY OF PARTURITION. 



then the os is forced partially open, and the accumulated fluid escapes 

 in great abundance. Gohier, Chouard, and other veterinary writers, 

 give instances of this singular form of chronic metritis ; they have seen 

 Mares which every forty days, every month, or at shorter intervals, 

 expelled fourteen, sixteen, and even as much as twenty pints of pus, 

 after exhibiting symptoms of colic, followed by more or less marked 

 expulsive efforts. 



The animal soon loses condition ; the appetite is irregular, the skin 

 is unhealthy-looking and clings to the bones ; and though debility is 

 present, oestrum may occur far more frequently than in health, yet 

 fecundation is not possible. Marasmus sets in, with febrile attacks 

 at intervals — pyaemic fever ; and though recovery is still possible, by 

 skilful treatment and long-continued nursing, yet death is only too 

 often the sequel. 



Even when recovery appears to be progressing favourably, relapses 

 may occur, sometimes through the breaking up and diffusion of venous 

 thrombi, which give rise to a pyaemic process, as in the case recorded 

 by Contamine. On the morning after an easy parturition, the after- 

 birth having also been expelled, the Cow began to tremble very much ; 

 the udder was small and flaccid, the back arched, the appetite gone ; 

 there was anxiety, with colicky pains, constipation, and pressure in 

 the right flank caused pain ; the labia of the vulva were apart, swollen, 

 and of a dark-red colour. In three days the animal was much better ; 

 but after three weeks there was a relapse. Petechiae formed on the 

 conjunctivas, the hind-limbs became swollen, bleeding ensued from the 

 skin and nostrils, and there was cough. The Cow finally recovered. 



Occasionally during the subacute or chronic stages of metritis, 

 metastatic formations occur in the lungs, liver, joints, and other parts ; 

 not infrequently there are caseous deposits in the uterus, which may 

 attain such a thickness in its walls as to simulate pregnancy. 



Pathological Anatomy. 



In those cases in which death has taken place and an examination 

 of the body been made, the local and essential lesions are found in the 

 genital organs and peritoneum, and when puerperal septicemia has 

 been present there are indications of general infection of the body. 

 Decomposition sets in early, the tissues are dark-green and foetid, and 

 meteorism is most marked. 



In simple endo-metritis such pronounced and general lesions are not 

 found, nor is the peritoneum involved. In the more acute cases, and 

 particularly those in which there has been septic infection, puerperal 

 ulcers of a dirty greenish hue are generally met with in the vagina, 

 often in the vicinity of the meatus urinarius, and about the labia of 

 the vulva. The mucous membrane is of a dull dai'k-red hue, and 

 swollen in patches by diphtheritic infiltration, or covered in parts by 

 croupous exudates. The bladder may also be implicated, though not 

 to such a serious extent, and especially if the catheter has been em- 

 ployed. In the cavity of the uterus is constantly found a quantity of 

 chocolate-coloured or grayish fluid, composed of efl'used blood, remains 

 of fcetal envelopes, and the secretions of the mucous membranes — all 

 in a more or less advanced state of decomposition, and emitting the 

 most repulsive odour. This fluid contains quantities of epithelial and 

 round cells, fat globules, and septic bacteria. The quantity of fluid 



