110 VAGINAI, OVARIOTOMY IN THE COW 



Wash and disinfect the tail and the perineum and flush 

 out the vagina with a 0.5 % solution of carbolic acid 

 or lysol at a temperature of about 100° F. Insert the 

 vaginal dilator with one hand and push the prolongation at 

 the anterior end into the os uteri. With the other hand, 

 elevate the handle of the dilator and depress and push for- 

 ward the uterus, thus rendering the roof of the vagina 

 tense and pushing it downward away from the rectum. 

 Carry the scalpel into the vagina with the right hand and 

 resting it in the oval of the dilator, make an incision through 

 the roof of the vagina, beginning at a point 8 to 10 cm. 

 posterior to the os uteri and extending backward on the 

 median line for a distance of 2 or 3 cm. Be careful to 

 make the incision entirely through the mucosa, muscle and 

 peritoneum at the first cut, since any failure to complete it 

 tends to cause the peritoneum to separate from the muscu- 

 lar coat and form a pocket between them, while the serous 

 membrane being very elastic, renders it diflScult to complete 

 the incision. Introduce two fingers through the incision, 

 and reaching over the side of the vagina to the right or 

 the left, the right or left ovary respectively is recognized 

 lying immediately against the lower part of the base of the 

 uterine horn, just at the anterior border of the pubis, in a 

 mass consisting of the cord-like Fallopian tube and the fim- 

 briae of its pavilion. The ovary may be distinguished as a 

 firm oval mass 2 to 4 cm. in length and i to 2 cm. in its 

 lesser diameter attached to the broad ligament. If not 

 promptly recognized by the sense of touch, trace the vagina 

 and uterus forward with the fingers from the vaginal in- 

 cision to the cornua and follow them as they bend forward 

 and downward, and then backward and upward to the ovi- 

 ducts, until the ovary is reached where it is attached to the 

 broad ligament, just beyond the fimbriated end. 



Grasp the ovary between the fingers and draw it through 

 the incision into the vagina. Introduce the emasculator 



