154 DISEASES OE CATTLE. 



of bowel gurgles when handled and can be completely effaced by 

 pressure, the gut passing back into the abdomen. 



A polypus in the womb is less easily recognized. At the time of 

 calving it may be felt through the open mouth of the womb and 

 recognized by the educated touch (it must be carefully distinguished 

 from" the mushroom-formed cotyledons (PI. XIII, fig. 2), to which in 

 ruminants the fetal membranes are attached). At other times, unless 

 the womb is opened in the effort to expel it, the polypus can only be 

 detected by examining the womb with the oiled hand introduced 

 through the rectum. 



Polypi may cause a muco-purulent discharge or they may only be 

 suspected when they prove an obstacle to parturition. The best way 

 to remove them is to put the chain of an ecraseur around the neck, or 

 pedicle, of the tumor and tear it through ; or the narrow neck may be 

 torn through by the emasculator, or in an emergency it may be twisted 

 through by rotating the tumor on its own axis. The removal of the 

 tumor will allow calving to proceed ; after which the sore may be treated 

 by a daily injection of one-half dram sulphate of zinc, 1 dram car- 

 bolic acid, and 1 quart milk-warm water. 



SIGNS OF PREGNANCY. 



If a cow remains for three or four weeks after service without show- 

 ing signs of heat (bulling), she is probably pregnant. There are very 

 exceptional cases in which the well-fed cow will accept the bull weeks 

 or months after actual conception, and others equally exceptional in 

 which the well-thriven but unimpregnated female will refuse the male 

 persistently, but these in no way invalidate the general rule. 



The bull, no matter how vigorous or how ardent his sexual instinct, 

 can not be made to pay any attention to a cow which is not in heat; 

 hence indications of pregnancy can be had from both the male and 

 female side. When she has conceived, the cow usually becomes more 

 quiet and docile, and lays on flesh and fat more rapidly, especially 

 during the first four months of gestation. The stimulus to digestion 

 and nutrition created by the demands of the growing fetus, added to 

 the quieter and more uneventful life, contributes to this result. Some 

 feeders avail of this disposition to prepare heifers and cows speedily 

 for the butcher. 



The enlargement of the abdomen, and its dropping so that it bulges 

 below and to each side, while it falls in at the flank, between the outer 

 angle of the hip bone and the last rib, are significant features which, 

 though they may be caused by abdominal tumor or dropsy, are 

 usually marks of pregnancy. From the same increasing weight of 

 the abdomen the spine in the region of the loins sinks so that the 

 bones of the croup seem to rise, especially back toward the root of the 

 tail. In the early stages of pregnancy the udder develops slowly, and 

 toward its completion quite rapidly. For a long time there is merely 



