THE GENERATIVE APPARATUS. 183 



desire may extend over a week, superfcetation is more 

 apt to occur in canine than in other patients, and it is 

 indicated by the throwing of pups at an interval of from 

 two or three days to a week, the two lots sometimes 

 differing in breed and indications of male parentage. 

 "With the subsidence of venereal excitement in unim- 

 pregnated animals, there succeeds a period of calm, which 

 is almost equivalent to that of gestation in impregnated 

 creatures. And, strange to say, with bitches at the end 

 of this interval — from the fortieth to the sixtieth day — 

 there sometimes appear phenomena allied to the parturient 

 period : as tumefaction of the mammary glands, followed 

 by swelling and increase of the opening of the vulva, 

 with reddening of the vaginal mucous membrane and the 

 escape of a viscid fluid. The animal also acts as if about 

 to bring forth ; making a bed for her young ; moving 

 about uneasily; neglecting her food for three or four days, 

 during which the mammae become still more developed, 

 firm, and elastic; the teats elongated, and the lactiferous 

 sinuses filled with an abundance of good milk, which is 

 easily obtained by slight pressure. If a bitch in this 

 state is presented with a young puppy, she will take to it 

 as if it was her own, and rear it most affectionately " 

 (Fleming). This remarkable phenomenon is most fre- 

 quently found in bitches which have been pregnant. It 

 may necessitate care in removal of milk through the teats 

 lest small concretions result from retention. If the bitch 

 be not impregnated, in due course the symptoms of 

 oestrum subside, but, it is urged, that whenever possible 

 the animal should be allowed to breed, as sterile females 

 are subject to degenerative changes of the ovaries and 

 mammae, and sometimes these parts become affected with 

 malignant disorder. During oestrum pet bitches, espe- 

 cially, are liable to suffer from epileptic fits. The absence 

 of oestrum at the proper periods is associated with changes, 

 mostly of a degenerative character, of the female organs ; 

 it is not uncommonly due to dropsy of the uterus. Arti- 

 ficial means are sometimes adopted to excite sexual desire. 

 These are either general or topical ; the former consist in 



