THU FEMALE GENEEATIVE OEGANS. 477 



after impregnation the gland enlarges, and in proper 

 time produces milk, but this cannot gain exit ; it remains 

 in the milk channels, and gives rise to mammitis. Some- 

 times an incision at the extremity of the teat will open 

 the partially developed duct, when the milk must be drawn 

 off regularly with a syphon. Usually an abscess forms, 

 and the curdled and decomposed milk is thrown off in the 

 pus. Such animals should not be bred from, as there is 

 some risk, and this, like other vices of conformation, may 

 be transmitted to the progeny. 



Mammitis — " Garget " — '' Downfall of the Udder *^ — 

 inflammation of the mammary gland — is frequent in the 

 cow, as might have been expected from the facts that this 

 animal is used as a milk-producing machine, and has its 

 lactiferous apparatus very largely developed. This dis- 

 ease is of the highest importance as affecting the yield of 

 milk rather than the life of the animal. It may be par- 

 tial or complete, for the quarters of the gland are sepa- 

 rated from each other by dense fibrous septa, so thatj 

 practically, there are four glands, and inflammation may 

 rage in one or more quarters without the rest being 

 affected. It may be acute or chronic, and most frequently 

 is seen in young cattle, especially primiparae (those with 

 the first calf), kept in a plethoric state. Sometimes it 

 commences directly after calving, but in other cases only 

 comes on some time after. Exposure to cold when 

 heated, injuries of various kinds, obstructions to the flow 

 of milk, eczema epizootica, and other specific disorders, 

 may be enumerated as causes ; in some cases it seems 

 traceable to metastasis from the lungs, since its appear- 

 ance is associated with sudden disappearance of pneumo- 

 nitis. It has been observed to be most frequent in hot 

 summers. Among the most frequent causes must be in- 

 cluded imperfect removal of the milk ('' Hefting ''), and 

 allowing the animal to remain too long without milking, 

 to ensure a full and tempting bag at the time of sale. 



Symptoms. — Fever runs high and the affected gland 

 is swollen, hot, painful, and hard to the touch. The 

 skin investing it is reddened, and there is generally lame- 



