174 THE DISEASES OF THE DOG. 



of the womb is in these cases somewhat ©edematous, but no 

 record of true oedema of the womb is to hand. The 

 accumulation results from rigidity of the neck of the 

 uterus with occlusion of the mouth of the organ, and so it 

 should be dealt with by catheterism of the womb, fre- 

 quently washing it out with chloride of zinc solutions, and 

 supporting the strength of the patient by tonics. 



Uterine Displacements, as seen in the bitch, are of 

 three kinds, hernia, prolapsus, and versio or twisting. 

 Hernia Uteri or Hysterocele is common in canine practice, 

 the displacement being generally inguinal or ventral. 

 Rainard has recorded a case in which the uterus had been 

 carried through the inguinal ring and was pushed back- 

 wards and appeared as a tumour at the vulva. The owner 

 opened the swelling with a penknife, whence resulted a 

 fistula from which a viscid fluid escaped. Rainard incised 

 this fistula and found beneath the skin a second membrane 

 having some analogy to it, and which afterwards proved 

 tb be the uterus ; in this was found a three or four weeks' 

 old foetus with its membranes, which was removed, but the 

 bitch died the next day. Gelle describes a case of hernia 

 of one of the uterine cornua (in which was a pup) through 

 the mesentery. It is remarked that an essential differ- 

 ence exists between this lesion in multiparous animals 

 and those which produce but one or two young at a birth. 

 In the former the uterine cornua are long and loosely 

 attached, and even in the unimpregnated condition of the 

 womb they can escape through an accidental opening in 

 the muscular walls of the abdomen or through the inguinal 

 rings ; besides, the abdominal walls are not so distant 

 from the womb in carnivora as in herbivora. Thus, hernia 

 occurs prior to conception or during the interval between 

 two successive pregnancies in the bitch, and not in- 

 frequently one or more foetuses are developed in the 

 herniated uterine horn. Thus, a hernia, not apparently 

 of importance, may during pregnancy increase in size as 

 the foetus develops in it and ultimately inconvenience be 

 caused by it either before or at the time of parturition. 

 Such a hernia frequently occurs in the mammary region 



