4o8 Diseases of the GenilaL Organs 



economically unless the owner has at hand an abundance of 

 good food of low cost. Thus an emaciated nymphomaniac 

 might be profitably spayed in the spring when an abundance 

 of cheap pasturage is available, but spaying in the autumn 

 and attempting to fatten upon expensive grain might prove 

 a serious economic blunder. The operation of spaying has 

 already been described in Chapter XL 



When recovery occurs, the nymphomania abates, the gen- 

 eral condition improves, the hair recovers its lustre, and the 

 deformation of the pelvis becomes lessened or disappears. 

 In mild or recent cases, recovery of fertility is signalized 

 by the return of the pelvis to its normal form. Long-stand- 

 ing, severe cases do not recover wholly from the pelvic de- 

 formity, but do improve in form with the restoration of fer- 

 tility. This is well shown in Fig. 129, where the cow is 

 shown in health in 1, the disease at its maximum in 2 and 3, 

 and the partly recovered form of the pelvis in 4. The im- 

 pression given by the figure in 4 may be somewhat exag- 

 gerated because she had just calved, at which period there 

 is regularly some relaxation of the pelvic ligaments, but the 

 photograph is essentially true to clinical observation. 



A nymphomaniac should on no account be permitted to 

 copulate, since this definitely intensifies the malady. 

 Neither should she be permitted to consort with other 

 cattle because, in repeatedly mounting or attempting to 

 mount them, she is very liable to injure herself (fractures 

 of pelvis, etc.) or other animals. She is a great annoyance 

 in a herd of dairy cows, constantly disturbing them, inter- 

 fering with their feeding, and hence with the milk yield. 



When the cow improves and apparently recovers, care 

 should be taken in permitting copulation. When the 

 nymphomania ceases and the general condition improves, 

 she should not be bred during the first appearance of es- 

 trum, as this may be false and a mere recrudescence of the 

 nymphomania. Even if it is due to the ripening of an ovi- 

 sac, copulation should not be permitted. The breeder 

 should wait until the advent of a second normal estrum. 

 The two periods have a normal interval of 20 to 22 days. 



