28o Veterinary Obstetrics 



in close proximity, the operation is readily carried out by means 

 of any of the iinpregnation syringes, or otherwise. It is essen- 

 tial merely that the transfer be made promptly and without se- 

 rious damage to the seminal fluid. 



By this method, females incapable of copulation may be im- 

 pregnated, such as those suffering from ruptured perineum or 

 other obstructions in the vagina or vulva. It may also be re- 

 sorted to in order to avoid the dangers of copulation between 

 animals in which there is too gross a variation in size, either the 

 male or the female being too large to safely copulate with the 

 desired mate. 



The chief essentials in artificial insemination are cleanliness 

 (asepsis), reasonable promptness, the protection of the semen 

 against extremes of temperature and its secure lodgment in the 

 uterus or cervical canal. 



The hands, vessels and apparatus are to be made clean — asep- 

 tically clean — and every precaution taken against the transfer 

 of dangerous infection. The possibilities of transferring infec- 

 tious diseases by this means should not be underestimated. 



The duration of the vitality of the spermatozoa has not been 

 fully determined. They can be kept alive in a warm saline so- 

 lution for daj's, but it is doubtful if their fertilizing power can 

 be maintained, with practical certainty, for a long period of time. 

 The transfer should consequently, in the interests of efficiency, 

 be made as promptly as possible. While, experimentally, artifi- 

 cial fertilization may be induced after carrying the semen a long 

 distance and keeping it many hours, the intervening time sub- 

 jects it to many unfavorable circumstances. If to be carried, it 

 may be placed in a rubber bag or wide mouthed bottle, the ves- 

 sel being immersed in water at a temperature of about loo ° F. 

 and maintained at about this temperature until the semen has 

 been used. 



