DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 215 



its lower part. If the hand is introduced into the vagina it is felt to 

 be hot and tender, and perhaps slightly swollen along its floor. As a 

 final test, if the lower fluctuating part of the abdomen is punctured 

 with a hypodermic needle, a straw-colored liquid of an urinous odor 

 flows out. The condition has been considered as past hope. The 

 only chance for recovery would be in opening the abdomen, evacuat- 

 ing the liquid, and stitching up the rent in the bladder, but at such 

 a season and with inflammation already started there would be little 

 to hope for. 



RUPTURE OF THE WOMB. 



When the womb has been rendered friable by disease this may occur 

 in the course of the labor, but much more frequently it occurs from 

 violence sustained in attempting assistance in difficult parturition. 

 It is also liable to occur during eversion of the organ through efforts 

 to replace it. 



If it happens while the calf is still in the womb, it will usually bleed 

 freely and continuously until the fetus has been extracted, so that the 

 womb can contract on itself and expel its excess of blood. Another 

 danger is that in case of a large rent the calf may escape into the cav- 

 ity of the abdomen and parturition become impossible. Still another 

 danger is that of the introduction of septic germs and the setting up of 

 a fatal inflammation of the lining membrane of the belly (peritoneum). 

 Still another is the escape of the small intestine through the rent and 

 on through the vagina and vulva, so as to protrude externally and 

 receive perhaps fatal injuries. In case of rupture before calving, that 

 act should be completed as rapidly and caret' ully as possible, the fetal 

 membranes removed and the contraction of the womb sought by dash- 

 ing cold water on the loins, the right flank, or the vulva. If the calf 

 has escaped into the abdomen and can not be brought through the 

 natural channels it may be permissible to fix the animal and extract 

 it through the side, as in the Csesarian section. If the laceration has 

 happened during eversion of the womb it is usually less redoubtable, 

 because the womb contracts more readily under the stimulus of the 

 cold air so recently applied. In case the abdomen has been laid open 

 it is well to stitch up the rent, but if not it should be left to nature, and 

 will often heal satisfactorily, the cow even breeding successfully in 

 after years. 



LACERATIONS AND RUPTURES OF THE VAGINA. 



Rupture of the floor of the vagina has been already referred to as 

 allowing the protrusion of the bladder. Laceration of the roof of this 

 passage is also met with as the result of deviations of the hind limbs 

 and feet upward when the calf lies on its back. In some such cases 

 the opening passes clear into the rectum, or the foot may even pass 

 out through the anus, so that that opening and the vulva are laid open 

 into one. 



