DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 211 



the womb through a rubber tube furnished with a funnel. In obsti- 

 nate cases a good-sized sponge soaked in tincture of muriate of iron 

 should be introduced into the womb and firmly squeezed, so as to 

 bring the iron in contact with the bleeding surface. This is at once 

 an astringent and a coagulant for the blood, besides stimulating the 

 womb to contraction. In the absence of this agent astringents (solu- 

 tion of copperas, alum, tannic acid, or acetate of lead) may be thrown 

 into the womb, and one-half-dram doses of acetate of lead may be 

 given by the mouth, or 1 ounce powdered ergot of rye may be given 

 in gruel. When nothing else is at hand, an injection of oil of tur- 

 pentine will sometimes promptly check the bleeding. 



EVEESION OF THE WOMB (CASTING THE WITHERS). 



Like flooding, this is the result of failure of the womb to contract 

 after calving. If that organ contracts naturally, the afterbirth is 

 expelled, the internal cavity of the womb is nearly closed, and the 

 mouth of the organ becomes so narrow that the hand can not be 

 forced through, much less the whole mass of the matrix. When, 

 however, it fails to contract, the closed end of one of the horns may 

 fall into its open internal cavity, and under the compression of the 

 adjacent intestines, and the straining and contraction of the abdomi- 

 nal walls, it is forced farther and farther," until the whole organ is 

 turned outside in, slides back through the vagina, and hangs from 

 the vulva. The womb can be instantly distinguished from the pro- 

 truding vagina or bladder by the presence over its whole surface of 

 fifty to one hundred mushroom-like bodies (cotyledons), each 2 to 3 

 inches in diameter, and attached by a narrow neck. (Pis. XII, 

 XIII.) When fully everted, it is further recognizable by a large, 

 undivided body hanging from the vulva, and two horns or divisions 

 which hang down toward the hocks. In the imperfect eversions the , 

 body of the womb may be present with two depressions leading into 

 the two horns. In the cases of some standing the organ has become 

 inflamed and gorged with blood until it is as large as a bushel basket, 

 and its surface has a dark-red, blood-like hue, and tears and bleeds 

 on the slightest touch. Still later lacerations, raw sores, and even 

 gangrene are shown in the mass. At the moment of protrusion the 

 general health is not altered, but soon the inflammation and fever 

 with the violent and continued straining induce exhaustion, and the 

 cow lies down, making no attempt to rise. 



Treatment. — Treatment will vary somewhat, according to the degree 

 of the eversion. In partial eversion, with the womb protruding only 

 slightly from the vulva and the cow standing, let an assistant pinch 

 the back to prevent straining while the operator pushes his closed fist 

 into the center of the mass and carries it bac c through the vagina, 

 assisting in returning the' surrounding parts by the other hand. In 

 more complete eversion, but with the womb as yet of its natural bulk 



