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on pressure, but are not especially tender, and subside more or less 

 perfectly under exercise, band rubbiug, and bandages. In obstinate 

 cases rubbing witb tbe following liniment may be resorted to : Com- 

 pound tincture of iodine, 2 ounces ; tannic acid, one-balf dram; water, 

 10 ounces. It does not last over a day or two after parturition. 



CRAMPS OF THE HIND LIMBS. 



The pressure of the distended womb on the nerves and blood-vessels 

 of the pelvis, besides conducing to dropsy, occasionally causes cramps 

 of the hind limbs. The limb is raised without flexing the joints, the 

 front of the hoof being directed toward the ground, or the spasms oc- 

 curring intermittently the foot is kicked violently against the ground 

 several times in rapid succession. The muscles are felt to be firm and 

 rigid. The cramps may be promptly relieved by active rubbing, or by 

 walking the animal about, and it does not reappear after parturition. 



CONSTIPATION. 



This may result from compression by the gravid womb, and is best 

 corrected by a graduated allowance of boiled flaxseed. 



PARALYSIS. 



The pressure on the nerves of the pelvis is liable to cause paralysis 

 of the hind limbs, or in the mare of the nerve of sight. These are ob- 

 stinate until after parturition, when they recover spontaneously, or 

 under a course of nux vomica and (locally) stimulating liniments. 



PROLONGED RETENTION OF THE FCETUS (FOAL). 



In the mare, though far less frequently than in the cow, parturition 

 may not be completed at term, and the foal may continue to be carried 

 in the womb' for a number of months, to the serious, or even fatal in- 

 jury of the mare. Hamon records one case in which the mare died 

 after carrying the fffitus for seventeen months, and Caillier a similar re- 

 sult after it had been carried twenty-two mouths. In these cases the 

 foetus retained its natural form, but in one reported by Gohier, the 

 bones only were left in the womb amid a mass of apparently purulent 

 matter. 



The cause may be any efiective obstruction to the act of parturition, 

 such as lack of contractile power in the womb, unduly strong (inflam- 

 matory) adhesions between the womb and the foetal membranes, wrong 

 presentation of the foetus, contracted pelvis (from fracture, or disease 

 of the bones), or disease and induration of the neck of the womb." 



The mere prolongation of gestation does not necessarily entail the 

 death of the foal, hence the latter has been born alive at the four hun- 

 dredth day. Even when the foal has perished, putrefaction does not 

 set in unless the membranes (water bags) have been ruptured, and sep- 



