176 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 
and firmness of the udder, with the smoothing out of its wrinkles, 
is a suggestive sign, even though it appears only at intervals during 
gestation. 
A steady increase in weight (14 pounds daily) about the fourth or 
fifth month is a useful indication of pregnancy. So is a swollen and 
red or bluish-red appearance of the vaginal mucous membrane. 
From the seventh or eighth month onward the foal may be felt by 
the hand (palm or knuckles) pressed into the abdomen in front of the 
left stifle. The sudden push displaces the foal toward the opposite 
side of the womb, and as it floats back its hard body is felt to strike 
against the hand. If the pressure is maintained the movements of 
the live foal are felt, and especially in the morning and after a drink 
of cold water or during feeding. A drink of cold water will often 
stimulate the fetus to movements that may be seen by the eye, but 
an excess of iced water may prove injurious, even to the causing of 
abortion. Cold water dashed on the belly has a similar effect on the 
fetus and is equally provocative of abortion. 
Examination of the uterus with the oiled hand introduced into the 
rectum is still more satisfactory, and, if cautiously conducted, no 
more dangerous. The rectum must be first emptied and then the 
hand carried forward until it reaches the front edge of the pelvic 
bones below, and pressed downward to ascertain the size and outline 
of the womb. In the unimpregnated state the vagina and womb can 
be felt as a single rounded tube, dividing in front to two smaller 
tubes (the horns of the womb). In the pregnant mare not only the 
body of the womb is enlarged, but still more so one of the horns 
(right or left), and on compression the latter is found to contain a 
hard, nodular body, floating in a liquid, which in the latter half of 
gestation may be stimulated by gentle pressure to manifest spon- 
taneous movements. By this method the presence of the fetus may 
be determined as early as the third month. If the complete, natural 
outline of the virgin womb can not be made out, careful examination 
should always be made on the right and left side for the enlarged 
horn and its living contents. Should there still be difficulty the mare 
should be placed on an inclined plane, with her hind parts lowest, 
and two assistants, standing on opposite sides of the body, should 
raise the lower part of the abdomen by a sheet passed beneath it. 
Finally the ear or stethoscope applied on the wall of the abdomen 
in front of the stifle may detect the beating of the fetal heart (one 
hundred and twenty-five a minute) and a blowing sound (the uterine 
sough), much less rapid and corresponding to the number of the 
pulse of the dam. It is heard most satisfactorily after the sixth or 
eighth month and in the absence of active rumbling of the bowels 
of the dam. 
