ABNORMALITIES IN SEXUAL DESIRE 183 



the teat tube, should be sterile, the ends of the teats thor- 

 oughly disinfected and the hands of the operator clean. The 

 instrument should be steriHzed by boiUng rather than the 

 use of antiseptics. In fact it is not advisable to permit anti- 

 septics to enter the udder as mastitis is apt to result. If the 

 sphincters of the teats are too weak to retain the air, bandages 

 may be placed around the teats to reinforce them. Other- 

 wise ligation should not be employed. If after three to six 

 hours no results come from the first inflation of the udder a 

 second may follow. If done under aseptic precautions several 

 inflations will be tolerated by the mammary gland without 

 danger of infection. 



Whether or not medicinal treatment in addition to the 

 use of air is of value is debatable. In the average run of 

 cases it is certainly unnecessary, except perhaps for the effect 

 it may have on the owner. The use of excitants such as the 

 subcutaneous injections of caffein (3j), strychnin (gr. ss) or 

 arecalin (gr. j) is recommended as an auxiliary treatment. 

 Giving medicine via mouth should be avoided. 



ABNORMALITIES IN SEXUAL DESIRE. 



In animals the sexual desire may deviate from the normal 

 in two ways, viz: It may be abnormally increased producing 

 a condition known as nymphomania in the female and saty- 

 riasis in the male. On the other hand the sexual desire may 

 be diminished in either the male or the female. Of particular 

 importance is the nymphomania of cows, mares and sows 

 and the diminished sexual desire of the male. Occasionally 

 cows do not come in estrum which greatly lessens their 

 economic value. 



Nymphomania. — ^Etiology. — The causes of nymphomania 

 are not always determinable. In cows a common cause is 

 cystic ovaries or more rarely tuberculosis or tumors (sarcoma, 

 carcinoma) in the ovaries. Diseases of the uterus such as 

 endometritis, cervicitis and very rarely occlusion of the os 

 may lead to a cow failing to conceive and therefore a repeated 

 return of the period of estrimi. In other instances the causes 

 seem to lie outside of the reproductive organs and probably 



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