On Abortion in Cows. 



75 



calf^ and the more so if she be some months advanced in gestation. 

 A cow which has had hoove, or distension of the paunch bj gas, 

 very frequently slips her calf. The effects of the injury in these 

 cases consist in a forcible displacement of the uterine contents, 

 possibly with separation of the foetal membranes from their con- 

 nections, to such an extent as to derange the nutritive processes 

 and cause the death of the foetus. In abortions consequent on 

 blows, the injury is sometimes inflicted so directly on the foetus 

 as to cause its immediate death ; in abortion consequent on hoove, 

 the distended stomach has so forcibly compressed the uterus and 

 its contents by driving them into the pelvic cavity or other con- 

 strained position, as to bring about the same result. These me- 

 chanical causes are mostly accidental or the result of carelessness 

 on the part of those having charge of cattle, and, on the whole, 

 the number of cows affected by them is comparatively small ; 

 hence there are some grounds for the prevalent opinion that, if 

 merely one or two or a very few coius in a stock cast their calves y 

 the cause is one of an accidental and mechanical character. In the 

 human female ulceration of the os uteri is a frequent cause of 

 abortion. So far as we know, however, regarding the cow, this 

 has not as yet been satisfactorily shown to be a common cause, 

 although it is quite possible that, from the difficulty attendant on 

 making an examination in the part affected, disease may exist here 

 much more frequently than is supposed. 



II. Causes of a constitutional character, — In some years there is 

 a singular inaptitude in cows to conceive, although they regularly 

 take the bull at every recurring period of heat during the season. 

 If these do not depend on sexual impotency of the bull, they must 

 be considered as cases of abortion. In the event of their being 

 dependent on sexual inefficiency in the male, it will be found 

 that all or nearly all the cows having connection with him fail 

 to conceive, and other cows in the same neighbourhood, and pro- 

 bably in the same stock, who have taken another bull, are not 

 affected in the same manner. If, from among a number of cows hav- 

 ing access to the same bull, a fair amount of conception takes place, 

 and abortion (or want of conception) is seen in others, as shown 

 by oestrum returning at the expiration of the three weeks subse- 

 quent to connection, it is fair to infer that the fault does not lie 

 with the male. It is a singular fact that some few bulls, in cows 

 which conceive by them, beget twins, and in other cows fail to 

 produce any offspring. Some bulls will be very prolific one 

 season, and seem almost destitute of procreating power the next, 

 although to all appearance the sexual appetite is as energetic as 

 formerly. Some males are not good stock-getters, in consequence 

 of the too great number of cows they are required to serve. The 

 above facts show that the male seed or semen varies in its con- 



