56 
may be that the cows which have an estrum every now and 
then, have aborted in the meanwhile. Such an abortion 
can be easily overlooked. A farmer reported once to me 
that he saw a heifer abort a two months old fetus. The ani- 
mal pressed only a little, and she did not seem to be in the 
least disturbed, as it kept on feeding. One may imagine how 
easily such an act may escape observation in a dark and dirty 
stable. Sometimes the ovum is not expelled at once, but 
after a while, in the form of a decomposed and greasy mass. 
While irrigating a cow which came regularly in heat, I once 
found a fetus, and several times I have found in similar cases 
parts of tissue which apparently originated from a fetus. 
The cause of these premature abortus cases is the patho- 
logical condition of the uterus mucosa. The ovum can not 
attain the necessary nourishment and is incapable of initi- 
ating those changes which cause a more intimate con- 
nection between the fetal and maternal placenta during the 
second month. During the first month the ovum is loose 
in the uterus horn and is nourished by diffusion from the 
uterine milk. 
Frank states that an incomplete production of this uter- 
ine milk on account of pathologic conditions in the uterus 
may be the cause of an early abortion, and so the cause of 
sterility. 
As I mentioned before, the mucosa which is covered with 
a purulent secretion is not capable of forming a close con- 
nection with the fetus in the second month; if the uterine 
epithelium and the uterine glands are atrophic, then it is clear 
that a nourishment of the ovum is out of the question, and 
the sterility is then complete. 
Early abortion on account of a chronic endometritis is of 
common occurrence in women. 
The Cystic Degeneration of the Ovaries. 
In the above I have called degeneration a secondary 
lesion, which is produced and sustained by the pathological 
