598 Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants. 
nature, such as are commonly spoken of as epizootic, when, by 
more careful examination, it may be found that the true cause of 
its extensive dissemination is contact, directly or indirectly, 
with organic matter in a state of change. With this latter class 
of stock I am inclined to regard the greater number of cases of 
parturition fever, particularly such as appear amongst large 
numbers of animals at the same time, as owing their existence 
only to contamination of the system with some agent which, 
when placed in favourable conditions in the animal body, is 
capable of self-augmentation, and of inducing the tissue changes 
so characteristic of the state of septic infection. For the pro- 
duction of this morbid condition there appear to be necessary 
at the period of parturition two conditions. 
1. A certain state, particularly of the parturient passages, in 
which a wound or fresh abrasion of the protecting membrane 
exists, it being rare that inoculation occurs while the membrane 
is intact, or even where a wound exists if granulation is rapidly 
progressing. The chances of inoculation are certainly greatly 
increased with abrasion. 
2. The existence of an active disease-inducing agent — most 
probably a bacterium — capable of self-augmentation. 
Regarding the first condition, those who are conversant with 
the act of parturition in the lower animals know well enough 
that wounds or abrasions are lesions of common occurrence. 
These occur less commonly in connection with the uterine tissues 
than with those more external, viz., the vagina and labiap. When 
instruments have been employed, or much manual interference 
has been needful, it is exceedingly difficult to avoid the infliction 
of these, and trifling ones only are needed. Also, in the cow, 
the removal by the hand of adhering placental membranes gives 
the same opportunity of auto-infection — the chief mode of con- 
tamination in her. In the vagina and on the labiae wounds and 
abrasions freshly made are of more common occurrence, and from 
these there is no doubt that inoculation frequently takes place. 
I am aware that, by many, external infection is said to play a 
rather unimportant part in the induction of the parturition fever 
of our patients. To this conclusion I am disposed to demur. 
Although the form of fever in the cow is chiefly that of septic 
poisoning, the result of self-contamination by absorption of 
putrid materials, so largely found connected with animals at the 
period of parturition, there are yet recorded well-marked cases 
of the infective form, the result of inoculation by material 
brought to the genital organs, on which were wounds or 
abrasions, by the use in the act of parturiton of articles or in- 
struments previously employed on animals suffering from this 
fever, or which were contaminated with unwholesome animal 
