254 Veterinary Obstetrics 



and has been followed by a vaginal discharge, presumably due to 

 endometritis. In other cases, it occurs without any preceding 

 disease. 



We have indeed very little in our veterinary literature to 

 thoroughly demonstrate the closure of the os uteri, as verified 

 by post mortem examination, and the diagnosis has usually 

 been based upon the difficulty of introducing a finger through 

 the cervix into the uterine cavity. This, as we have already 

 stated, is well-nigh impossible, at most times, in the normal 

 uterus of the cow. 



In the mare, closure of the os uteri is stated to occur, and 

 doubtless does, but in our experience we have never seen such a 

 case except in some disease of the uterine cavity itself, such as 

 pyometra or- uterine abscess, in which the cervix becomes sclero- 

 tic and in which, sometimes, as observed by us clinically, a com- 

 plete closure of the canal results. 



The diagnosis of closure of the os uteri is very difficult in the 

 cow, still more so in the small domestic animals, but there is no 

 difificulty ordinarily in the mare. If the uterus of the mare is 

 normal, the index finger can readily be passed through it, even 

 when she is not in estrum. During estrum, it is not at all rare 

 to find the os of the mare so open and flaccid that the entire 

 hand may readily be introduced through it. 



In the cow, we should preferably examine the animal for sus- 

 pected closure of the os uteri during the period of estrum, be- 

 cause the canal is naturally more dilated and dilatable at that 

 time. The best method for examining the cervix is to grasp it 

 per rectum with one hand, so as to fix and hold the cervix in a 

 direct line, and then test the patency of the cervical canal with 

 the index finger of the other hand or with a sound. One of the 

 great difiiculties in passing either the finger or the sound is the 

 aforementioned transverse folds of mucous membrane, which 

 tend to obstruct the passage and may lead to the conclusion that 

 the canal is closed when, in fact, the sound or finger has simply 

 been caught in one of these folds, and the cervical canal 

 is wholly normal. Another serious difficulty is that, unless 

 the cervix is fixed per rectum, as suggested, the pressure neces- 

 sary to force the finger or sound through the canal causes the 

 cervix to bend acutely, or even at right angles, and thus cause 

 the finger or sound to be forced against the wall of the cervix, 



