374 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZOOLOGICAL ANATOMY. 
look, therefore, to the mechanical causes, and there we shall find 
abundant proof. It was not in the vagina, it was not in the cornua 
uteri, that any obstruction was found ; for had either of these been 
in the same healthy state, and with a healthy condition of the os 
and cervix uteri, impregnation must have taken place, considering 
the state of the ovaria. I attribute the entire cause of sterility, 
therefore, to the morbid state of the os and cervix uteri, blockading 
entirely the canal in their interior, and thus preventing the entrance 
of the spermatic animalculse from the point of the penis of the 
bull into the healthy cornua uteri, and thence onwards to the 
Graafian vesicles of the ovaria. 
That inflammation, induration, and ulceration of the os and cervix 
uteri do prevent conception from taking place, there can be little 
doubt of, even in the lower animals. That it is true in the higher 
orders is not, now, doubted ; and if true in the one, it must also be 
true in the other. I have, therefore, every conviction that the 
cause of sterility in the present case was temporary, consequent on 
an obstruction in the os and cervix uteri, caused by the inflamed, 
indurated, and ulcerated condition of these parts ; and that, had a 
proper diagnosis been instituted, all these might have been removed, 
and thus a valuable animal would have been saved. 
It might be, perhaps, expected requisite for me to explain the 
best and easiest methods of exploring such diseases, of distinguish- 
ing their nature, and of applying the most likely method of treat- 
ment. These I shall do in a very brief description. 
The modes in which the exploration and examinations into the 
state of the uterine passages are effected are by two means — first, 
by the “ toucher , ” and, secondly, by the use of the speculum ; and of 
these the “toucher” is unquestionably the most useful for the vete- 
rinary practitioner. First, then, by the “ toucher” is to be under- 
stood the exploration of the condition of the walls of the vagina 
and the vaginal portion of the os and cervix uteri. This is not to 
be accomplished by the introduction of the finger, but that of the 
whole hand and arm, lubricated and prepared for such by careful 
anointing with lard. This I have found most easily accomplished 
by using the right hand in the examination, the operator standing 
on the nigh hip of the animal, the tail being held to the off-side, 
and the nigh fore-foot bent up in the hands of an assistant. The 
hand and arm having been lubricated, the points of the fingers of 
the examining hand are carefully to be inserted between the labia 
majora, in their long diameter, and after being completely intro- 
duced, the palm of the hand may be rotated to the pubic region, 
and, the points of the fingers being carried onwards, they may 
be easily brought in contact with the os and cervix uteri, the 
entire circumference of which they can easily comprehend, and 
