Diseases of the Generative System. 213 
urinate. When the disease accompanies parturition, or 
sets in soon after, the secretion of milk is usually absent, . 
and the disease is likely to be associated with peritonitis. 
Treatment—The comfort of the patient must be 
ensured on every hand. The hot spongio-piline 
poultice is indispensable as long as the acute symptoms 
remain. Opium (one to three grains) is required to subdue 
the pain, with which extract of gentian should be com- 
bined, or a few drops of the aromatic spirit of ammonia 
may be added when the animal is prostrate. The dis- 
charge from the womb, &c., may be promoted by warm 
enemas, containing ten to twenty grains of boracic acid, 
administered with great care, particularly if the swelling 
of the passage is great. 
Dropsy of the Womb, technically known as Hydrops 
Uteri, and Hydrometra, is often associated with indi- 
gestion and a state of obesity, especially in old animals 
which have bred largely, and indicate suppression or 
irregularity of the cestrum. 
Symptoms.—Gradual enlargement of the abdomen, 
which may be mistaken for pregnancy, but is distin- 
guished by the elastic, yielding sensation instead of the © 
hard masses which the foetal bodies present to the 
hands. -Somewhat later the abdomen, in addition to 
further enlargement, becomes pendulous and heavy; the 
animal is excessively thirsty, feverish, and the appetite 
is very poor or absent; weakness and emaciation pro- 
ceed, and at length she dies from exhaustion, when the 
- womb is discovered to be charged with fluid, sometimes 
mere serum, or at others white and thick, from the 
admixture of cells derived from the lining membrane of 
the organ. 
Treatment should be instituted early. When it is 
decided the fluid is the cause of the distension, it should 
be drawn off by means of the. catheter passed through 
the contracted mouth of the womb, followed by regular 
washings with a solution of chloride of zinc (three grains 
to the ounce of water), the strength- being supported by 
the regular administration of tonics, as iron, with — 
gentian. 
