274 Veterinary Obstetrics 



Should an alleged remedy have been applied shortly before, it is 

 probable that it will be credited with a cure, though the actual 

 cause of the sterility may have been of such a character that the 

 remedy applied could in no conceivable way have affected it. 



In addition to many secret nostrums which are placed upon 

 the market and vigorously advertised by their promoters, there 

 are various remedies, which are not secret, but which have been 

 lauded as sovereign against sterility, regardless of the underlying 

 cause ; or, possibly, we should say they are regarded as specifics 

 against all cases of sterility, the causes of which are unknown to 

 the parties concerned. 



Dilation of the Os Uteri. We have already had occasion to 

 refer to this procedure while considering "Occlusion of the Os 

 Uteri." Dilation of the os uteri has a direct value, and is the 

 only scientific method of handling an occlusion of the os uteri 

 externum. This much granted, it has been seized upon by many 

 as a universal remedy. We have also related' that the cervical 

 canal of the cow is so narrow, so tortuous, and its mucous mem- 

 brane thrown into so many folds, that it is difficult to pass a 

 finger or a sound through the canal. This difficulty is made 

 greater by the vigorous contraction of the powerful circular 

 muscles of the cervix. 



So it is easy to say that the os uteri is closed, much easier for 

 a careless veterinarian to make the statenient than to prove its 

 untruth by passing a sound through into the uterine- cavity. 



Of course some females, previously sterile, will breed after 

 "opening" the os, which was not closed: so might the same 

 animals have bred had their tails been split, or their horns bored. 



Impregnators. A few years ago there was an an extensive 

 interest shown in impregnators as a soverign remedy for sterility 

 in mares. Some prominent American practitioners, deeply im- 

 pressed with the idea, bent their energies to overcome sterility 

 in this manner and devised and patented impregnators of various 

 types. Generally they consisted of hollow tubes of soft rubber, 

 3 to 4 inches in length, having an opening of variable size, 

 usually yi. to Yi^ inch. The outside of the tube was constricted 

 in its center, and the posterior end was armed with a broad 

 flange to prevent its falling into the uterine cavity. This ap- 

 paratus was inserted in the os uteri externum just before the 

 stallion mounted. The theory of use was that the " impregna- 



