ABORTION AND PREMATURE BIRTH. 255 



causes which may be accountable for abortion are so numerous that 

 it is impossible to include within the limits now available anything 

 like a detailed account of them, but we must in passing note one 

 form, that which is said to be due to infection, when a number of 

 animals abort one after another w^ithout any assignable reason ; it 

 is true that such a result is not frequently noticed among mares, 

 tut that is probably due to the fact that as a rule mares are not 

 kept in such numbers as are cows or sheep; but there is no reason 

 why such fatal consequences should not follow where mares are 

 "kept in any large number for breeding purposes; we are never- 

 theless firmly of opinion that under proper treatment and suitable 

 conditions there is no reason why an epidemic of abortion ought 

 not to be prevented, and mainly because of this faith do we pro- 

 pose to enter into the consideration of the administration of drugs 

 as one means of averting the serious losses attendant upon the 

 business of the breeder; the main symptoms have already been 

 furnished in the language of Dr. Fleming, in his able work on 

 Veterinary Obstetrics, and these must serve as the sign posts by the 

 way to point the breeder to the destination he seeks to arrive at; 

 with the hints there offered he will glean information that wall 

 enable him to determine if abortion is threatened, and when this 

 is so, then from the symptoms given under the various drugs he 

 will be able to select one that is suitable to the case, and, 

 perchance, prevent the abortion; on the other hand, if one mare 

 aborts then the time has arrived for watching closely all the other 

 in-foal mares on the premises, in order that no time maj^ be lost 

 in treating them should symptoms of abortion supervene. 



Arnica 3X. — In cases where a mare has sustained an injur}', 

 such as running against a fence or gate; or if she has fallen while 

 galloping about and so experienced a shock to the system, a few 

 •doses of this remedy will serve to prevent untoward results. 



Aletris far. 0. — If a mare has aborted more than once this 

 remedy should be administered in ten-drop doses every other day 

 for a fortnight before the period of pregnancy to which she had 

 attained on the previous occasion, and there is good reason to be- 

 lieve that it will serve to interrupt the habitual tendency to 

 abortion. 



Belladonna 3X. When a mare gives signs of uneasiness, and 

 strains till the vagina presses outwards, with more or less discharge 



