236 VETERINARY HOMCEOPATHY, 



that the owner has made satisfactory and suitable provision for 

 the comfort, general well-being and health of the mare, and that 

 the due date of foaling has arrived; under the influence of Pulsa- 

 tilla administered as hereinbefore explained, the mare will prob- 

 ably experience a spontaneous and normal delivery; but ther& 

 may arise difficulties, which are amenable to the influence of 

 drugs and w^hich drugs will obviate without mechanical interfer- 

 ence, concerning which some helpful suggestions may be offered. 

 A contracted, hard, rigid condition of the OS uteri (mouth of the 

 womb) arises, and this quite independent of cancerous grov/ths, 

 termed cauliflower excrescences, which are sometimes the cause 

 of this rigid condition ; when this is the case it can of course only 

 be positively recognized by manual exploration which should be 

 carefully and gently attempted when delivery is delayed or the* 

 mare has made many ineffectual efforts to discharge the foetus; 

 before making the examination the person who undertakes the 

 responsibility must strip off his clothes even to the shirt, wash his 

 hands and arms carefully w'ith warm water, and then dress the 

 arm that he is going to use in the examination with carbolized oil; 

 this serves to facilitate the easy introduction of the arm into the 

 vaginal canal and to prevent septic infection; if the os is found to 

 be closed and very hard try the administration of tincture of 

 Ca,ulophyllum ten drops every hour for three doses, after which 

 at the expiration of twelve hours from the first dose if the os is 

 not dilated and the delivery effected professional aid should be 

 obtained, but as a rule this drug removes the functional disturb- 

 ance which caused the rigidity, the os relaxes and dilates and 

 labor proceeds to a satisfactory termination. Another cause 

 which sometimes accounts for delay in delivery is due to lack of 

 nerve power in the walls of the womb, resulting in very spasmodic 

 and irregular contraction in which case, if the mare seems to ex- 

 perience very violent pains while they last, and she gets irritable 

 and probably neighs spitefully Chamomilla 3X, ten drops to a dose 

 every hour will be most suitable. In cases where no progress 

 seems to be made and the mare bursts out into cold sweats especi- 

 ally about the neck and shoulders and every pain appears to 

 exhaust her more and more Vcratrum album 3X in the usual dose 

 to be given every half hour until the cold sweats cease. 



When the pulse is very w^eak, the body externally cold to the 



