THE FEMALE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 443 



rigid separation of animals which have aborted from those 

 which are pregnant should be attended to in all cases. 

 It is remarked that enzootics of abortion occur most fre- 

 quently in seasons favorable to the development of fungi. 

 Sometimes abortion leads to flooding, but the most im- 

 portant ill effect is the loss to the owner, for not only is 

 the calf dead but also the regular secretion of milk may 

 be seriously interfered with. 



Treatment. — After an abortion, an animal should be 

 nursed and carefully watched. Sometimes stimulant 

 tonics are requisite. As a rule, the foetal membranes are 

 passed investing the foetus, but if not, they should be 

 removed as soon as possible. Special care must be taken 

 to isolate all affected animals, and since the irregularity 

 is very liable to recur when pregnancy again advances to 

 the stage when the accident happened, it is often better 

 to fatten the cow for sale. We may conclude that any 

 cause seriously altering the constitutional conditions of 

 a pregnant animal may bring about abortion ; some of 

 these influences also directly cause death of the foetus, 

 others do not do so. In the former case it is not to be 

 regretted that abortion takes place. The occurrence of 

 the false labour pains must be met by antispasmodics. 



Premature Birth depends upon influences similar to 

 those which give rise to abortion. We note it here as 

 necessitating special care in the rearing of the calf. The 

 small animal thus prematurely brought into the world is 

 deficient m heat-producing power, and also in strength, 

 but in due time may progress as well as if the full 

 period of gestation had been completed. In many cases 

 the utero- gestation is remarhahly prolonged ; in one 

 recorded it amounted to fifty-two weeks, this was most 

 remarkable ; it is not usually found that the calf is excep- 

 tionally large in these cases. The number of animals 

 horn at one time from the same cow is sometimes very 

 extraordinary. The most extreme case was one in which 

 fifteen embryos were found in the uterus. Cases have 

 been known of animals producing five calves at a birth 

 and all of them living. 



