I002 Veterinary Obstetrics 



band, after which the affected teat is to be very frequently emptied 

 for a few days. Others attempt to rupture these transverse bands 

 by still greater pressure than can be applied by means of the hands,, 

 but the recorded results from the operation do not seem to- 

 strongly commend it. Wherever these operations are under- 

 taken, mastitis very frequently follows, and the cow eventually 

 becornes three- teated. 



In a somewhat extensive experience in the operative handling- 

 of the nodular obstruction at the base of the teat, we have had 

 success in a small minority of cases ; whereas, in the larger 

 number, mastitis of a more or less serious form has been induced, 

 which has usually ended in the loss of the affected quarter or 

 quarters. Under these conditions it seems more judicious in 

 many cases to allow the gland to atrophy and the cow to become 

 three-teated rather than to involve the risk of a dangerous infec- 

 tion to be followed later by the destruction of the gland. 



