294 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



and erratic in individuals and in herds. Copulation always 

 intensifies the symptoms, especially in heifers, and one can 

 generally distinguish by the clinical examination of the 

 vulva practically every heifer which has copulated from 

 those which have not. In some heifers, after repeated copu- 

 lations, the granules become so numerous and highly in- 

 flamed that coitus causes pain and hemorrhage, followed 

 by abundant vaginal discharge for several days. 



The use of antiseptics in the vulvo-vaginal tract alters the 

 clinical appearance profoundly. Daily washing of the va- 

 gina with non-irritant, warm, antiseptic solutions causes 

 the symptoms of the malady to decrease rapidly in intensity, 

 and in a few weeks the nodules may largely disappear, the 

 mucosa become smoother and softer, and the color change 

 to a pale rose-red. It looks as if the continuance of the 

 handling would soon eliminate the disease, but in the end 

 some nodules remain, and, with a cessation of handling un- 

 accompanied by copulation, the symptoms remain static. 

 On the other hand, when powerful antiseptics are intro- 

 duced into the vagina, the mucosa becomes irritated, swollen, 

 and edematous, and the nodules thereby become veiled. 



Thus the clinical signs of the malady appear insidiously, 

 usually when the heifer is but a few weeks old. The disease 

 pursues a comparatively uneventful course up to breeding 

 age, then becomes suddenly intensified after coitus, and 

 quickly reaches its zenith, where it maintains, with certain 

 vacillations, an approximately horizontal course for three or 

 four years, when it begins to abate slowly in intensity and 

 with the advent of old age more or less completely disap- 

 pears clinically. 



It will be seen by a study of the preceding table that 

 spayed range heifers of the beef breeds show the disease in 

 a lower ratio than other animals, but the ratio does not give 

 a clear view of the facts. The intensity of the disease de- 

 pends very largely upon the frequency of copulation. The 

 spaying of range heifers was generally done very carelessly 

 and hastily. The operator thrust his hand through the 

 wound, grasping the ovaries and stripping them from the 



