540 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



Uterine hemorrhage of the puerperium apparently bears 

 an interesting relationship to other uterine hemorrhages in 

 the cow. Elsewhere interplacental hemorrhages from the 

 pregnant uterus with fetal desiccation have been described. 

 Presumably in that case infection plays the essential part. 

 At any rate it is observed chiefly in cattle belonging to 

 highly infected herds. Unfortunately the initial stages of 

 interplacental hemorrhage in the pregnant cow are not 

 available for observation. The desiccation of the fetus is 

 ordinarily the first step recognized. In fetal desiccation, 

 as in puerperal hemorrhage, there is no observed tendency 

 to putrefaction. Apparently it has been thought that fetal 

 desiccation occurs because the cervix remains closed and 

 sealed so that bacteria may not invade the hematoma, fetal 

 membranes, and fetal cadaver. That is evidently incorrect. 

 Bang and others have recognized the B. abortus in the desic- 

 cated fetus. That bacterium possesses scant putrefactive 

 power. In the uterine hemorrhages under consideration 

 there seems to be something more than a neutral force at 

 work. When the hemorrhage commences, the uterine cavity 

 is freely open to the exterior and is certainly heavily in- 

 fected. The escaped blood, instead of forming a breeding 

 ground for commonly known bacteria which set up putre- 

 faction, possesses a unique power to prevent putrefactioii. 

 An ordinary blood clot in the uterus or in a wound is the 

 signal for the intensification of infection in the part, but 

 here the opposite occurs. The first suggestion of its unique 

 character comes with the blood escaping from the vulva, 

 which is intensely scarlet, much brighter than ordinary ar- 

 terial blood, and looks much like blood from the lungs. 



An interesting fact, also, is that the uterine hematoma of 

 the puerperal period, if left to itself, apparently desiccates 

 in a manner similar to the desiccation of the fetus. At least 

 there are sometimes found in the uterus old desiccated blood 

 clots. I have observed a number of these in the abattoir, 

 usually involving one uterine horn only (the hemorrhage 

 having occurred in the gravid cornu alone?) , but sometimes 

 chiefly in the uterine body and projecting into one horn. In 



