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BOVINE PATHOLOGY. 



important excretory organs, the bowels, in free action ; the 

 influence of the cathartic is derivative, and the peritonitis 

 is not so diffused as in idiopathic cases of that disorder. 

 Local treatment comprises the administration of belladonna 

 or other anodyne enemas and of carbolic intrauterine injec- 

 tions. All endeavours must be made to remove decom- 

 posing membranes or the remains of a foetus, but the 

 practitioner must be most careful not to injure his arms 

 or hands with foetal bones, nor to work in such cases with 

 an exposed wound on the parts brought into contact with 

 the decomposing material. The hands may be advanta- 

 geously lubricated with carbolised soft soap. Neglect of 

 these precautions has proved fatal to some country prac- 

 titioners. 



Lacerations of the Uterine Walls result from ex- 

 cessively powerful throes in different cases of parturition, 

 from wounds either by the foot of the foetus or by instru- 

 ments during delivery, and sometimes as a direct result 

 of other forms of injury. These lacerations may be partial 

 or complete. In some cases of metritis abscesses form in 

 the thickness of the coats, and in time burst into the cavity 

 of the uterus, leaving behind them spaces, which become 

 fistulous in consequence of the constant entry of the acrid 

 uterine discharges. Thus Uterine Fistula is established. 

 The symptoms are those indicative of endometritis, and 

 are usually slight. Sometimes we have a true fistulous 

 communication, between the uterus and the intestines for 

 instance. We can only treat such cases as suggested for 

 endometritis. Perfect or complete laceration is Rupture 

 OF THE Uterus, which may occur either before parturition, 

 during labour, or after delivery. When it takes place 

 before or during parturition it generally results in the 

 falling of the foetus into the abdominal cavity. A 

 remarkable form of this lesion is noticed by Fleming, after 

 Count Ercolani of Bologna, in which transverse rupture of 

 the uterus (either the body or one cornu) results in the 

 hanging of the anterior separated part of the organ as a 

 foetus -containing cyst, supported by the broad ligament 

 below the lumbar region. The development of the foetus 



