6ii PATHOLOGY OF PAETURITION. 



itself, much to the surprise of the veterinary surgeons and cattle-owners, 

 who were previously unacquainted with it. And it is supposed that the 

 greatly-increased prevalence of puerperal apoplexy in other countries — 

 as Italy, Spain, France, and the United States of America — is due to the 

 introduction of these South Holland Cows. 



In our own country there are districts in which it is rarely seen, 

 while in others it is quite frequent. 



With regard to individual predisi^osition, there can be no doubt that 

 even in these predisposed breeds there are animals which suffer from 

 parturient apoplexy more than others ; and instances are reported of 

 Cows being attacked after several consecutive births. 



Plethora, no doubt, exercises a great influ-ence in the production of 

 the disease ; for it is chiefly among well-fed Cows — particularly those 

 kept for milk in the vicinity of large towns, which seldom or never leave 

 their stable, and are abundantly nourished immediately before calving 

 — that parturient apoplexy prevails most seriously and extensively. 

 Even among Cows at pasture, when the herbage is luxuriant, the 

 disease is far from infrequent, and the fatal cases are numerous. It is 

 true that it may attack milch Cows in moderate, or even in compara- 

 tively poor condition ; but then it will be found that their hygienic 

 management is at fault. They may be Cows which, having been scantily 

 fed during a long winter, are abundantly supplied with food in the 

 spring ; or they are Cows which, purchased in low condition, receive a 

 large supply of food from their new owner. Kohne^ states that he had 

 occasion to observe eighty cases of this disease at Kemper (Ehenish 

 Prussia), and that the majority were Cows which, bought lean in 

 Holland, some time before parturition, had passed without any gradual 

 transition from the Dutch pastures to the stables of the Ehenish feeders, 

 where they received a large amount of food. Kniebusch- and others 

 have made similar observations. It has also been remarked that a 

 uniform, and even abundant diet, is less dangerous than an abrupt 

 change from scarcity to generous allowance. 



When pregnant Cows which have been for some time at pasture, 

 are taken into the stable a few days before calving, they are often seized 

 when age and other circumstances predispose them to the disease. 



The risk is all the greater if the secretion of milk has been suspended 

 for some time before calving, the Cows meanwhile receiving the same 

 amount of food. 



Permanent confinement in the stable also acts in a similar manner to 

 abundant and stimulating food, by inducing plethora and laxity of fibre. 

 Thus it is, that while the disease is prevalent in the cowsheds of towns, 

 or in those from which the cattle are seldom driven out to graze or for 

 exercise, it is almost, if not quite unknown in hilly pastures. 



Age, or rather the developvient of lactation, has also a powerful 

 influence. When the secretory function has reached a certain point, 

 the Cow appears to become much more predisposed to an attack. Thus, 

 it is asserted that parturient apoplexy has scarcely ever been observed 

 in a primipara, and very rarely indeed before the third Calf, when the 

 lactiferous system has almost attained its maximum development in the 

 more precocious breeds. In 29 cases reported by Haycock,^ 3 occurred 

 after the third Calf, 5 after the fourth, 16 after the fifth, 2 after the 



1 Maqazin fiir Tlderhtillcunde und Viehzucht, 1855. 



- Ibid. 



^ Veterinarian, 1851. 



