448 Tllli MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



the hanging- portion will result in pulling the membranes 

 from their attachments. In others the placenta is re- 

 moved by the hand skilled in such work. The right 

 hand and arm of the operator, after being smeared with 

 carbolized oil, lard, or vaseline, is pushed into the uterus 

 and the attachments to the walls of the same are worked 

 loose with the fingers. 



Treatment may, in rare instances, prove effective 

 when administered by a competent veterinarian, but 

 more commonly mechanical removal is the more sure 

 method. However, the giving of hot drinks and the 

 judicious feeding of warm and light bran mashes are 

 alwavs helpful. The administration also of any tonic 

 that will aid in building up the system will undoubtedly 

 prove in some degree helpful when the system is de- 

 bilitated. This is one of the instances in which an ap- 

 proved condimental food may sometimes be fed with 

 advantage. 



Eversion of the womb in cows. — This disease, com- 

 monly called casting the withers, is most frequently 

 seen in cows. It occurs after calving, and more es- 

 pecially when irritation of the parts is present and the 

 labor of parturition has been severe. The immediate 

 cause is the straining which is continued after the calf 

 is born. 



The indications of such expulsion are, of course, ap- 

 parent to the eye, but the expelled womb may not, in 

 all instances, be distinguished from the protruding 

 vagina or bladder b_v those who have not heretofore 

 witnessed such expulsion. It may readily be so dis- 

 tinguished by the mushroom-like bodies called cotyle- 

 dons which cover its whole surface. Each of these is 

 2 to 3 inches in diameter. The eversion may be partial 

 or complete. When complete, it hangs, an undivided 

 body, from the vulva and extends well down toward the 

 hocks. When the protrusion first occurs, the general 

 health of the cow may not be impaired, but if not re- 



