IMPOTENCE AND STERILITY. 



425 



affections. The term " impotence'' is specially applied to this 

 weakness. In some cases penile erection is weak, and the intro- 

 mission of the orjjjan into the vagina is impossible ; in others the 

 ejaculation takes place too early, while erection is yet incomplete 

 or before the introduction of the member into the vagina. 



2. Certain pathological conditions of the jpeyiis: fracture, phimosis,, 

 paraphimosis, tumors, anomalies of its size, etc. 



3. Locomotion troubles, which render the service impossible or 

 difficult : painful articular affections (spavin, curb) or weakness 

 of the hind quarters (paraplegia). 



The treatment of this anomaly must vary with its cause. The 

 principal means to which we may resort are : 1. Intensive alimenta- 

 tion and the use of electricity. 2. The mechanical relief of the 

 animals at the time of copulating. 3. Surgical intervention (see 

 Weakening of the Genesic Instinct — treatment). 



h. Seminal impotence consists either in aspermia, i. lack 

 of sperm production, or in azoospermia, or absence of spermatozoa 

 in the ejaculated liquid. 



Its most common causes are the complete absence of testicleSy 

 their atrophy occurring consecutively to inflammatory processes,, 

 degenerative or neoplasmic (carcinoma, aplasia, hyperplasia of the 

 testicles, etc.). We may find seminal impotence in males which 

 have testicles and the other genital organs of perfectly normal 

 appearance, and in which ejaculation takes place perfectly, but the 

 spermatozoa are wanting. This spermatic anomaly is observed in. 

 very old or very young stallions. Microscopic examination of the 

 sperm informs us as to the presence or absence of the spermatozoa. 

 In some cases this liquid may contain spermatozoa, but they are 

 dead or immobile — phenomena which are probably due to chronic 

 inflammatory states or degeneration of the seminiferous canaliculi 

 (glandular utricles) or to their congenital aplasia. Seminal im- 

 potence is incurable. 



II. Sterility : Infecundity of the female. It may be tran- 

 sitory {guvq^Aq) oy persistent (incurable). Its most common causes 

 are : nymphomania, a lessening of the genesic instinct, obstruction 

 of the OS uteri by chronic inflammatory processes or by cicatricial 

 contractions — an alteration observed in the cow and the goat 

 (Franck, Harms), contractions of the vagina (sutures of the vulva, 

 changes of relation and direction of the organ), the displacement 

 of the uterus (retroversion, torsion, inversion, prolapsus), uterine 



