14 
ON HYDROPS UTERI. 
CASE II. — On May 15, 1840, I was requested to attend a cow, 
the property of Mr. G. Ritchie, farmer, Quothquaw, distant four 
miles ; but being from home, Mr. J. Collyer, a gentleman who had 
studied the veterinary art, and who lived near, was consulted. He 
considered it a case of indigestion, and prescribed a dose of physic, 
as the bowels were constipated, and the abdomen very much dis- 
tended. In the course of three days Mr. Collyer called, and wished 
me to visit the cow along with him. He stated that he had given 
physic repeatedly without effect. On seeing her, I suspected dropsy 
of the uterus ; but Mr. Ritchie assured me that she was always 
large in the belly, and by percussion I could not feel an} T fluctua- 
tion, the abdomen was so tense. I therefore, in the mean time, 
ordered more physic, with gentian and ginger, which had the effect 
of partially moving the bowels; but the pulse kept up about 86, 
and intermitted every ten or twelve beats. During our third visit, 
and while we were consulting about the measures to be adopted, 
we were informed by a servant that the physic had commenced to 
operate, and had flooded the whole yard. On going out we found 
the water running down a common sewer leading from the byre 
with great rapidity, and on entering the byre it was still flowing 
freely from the vagina : the nature of the case was then apparent. 
We informed Mr. Ritchie that labour pains would come on during 
the night or early the following morning. I was called about 
seven o’clock A.M., and succeeded, without much difficulty, in bring- 
ing away twin calves, the one dead, the other living. The cow 
was in a very weak state after delivery ; but by the exhibition of 
tonics along with gruel and new milk four times daily, she gra- 
dually improved, and in about a week she commenced taking grass, 
and in a short time completely recovered. She gave eight pints of 
milk daily during summer ; was fed during winter, and made ex- 
cellent beef. 
Case III. — About the middle of May, 1841, I was requested to 
visit a cow, the property of Mr. J. Gray, farmer, Bud Park, twenty 
miles from Biggar. Mr. Gray informed me that all the cow- 
leeches, quacks, and veterinary surgeons in the country had seen 
her; that some of them had declared that she would have three or 
four calves, while others confessed they were unable to determine 
what was wrong. I found no difficulty, simply from the animal’s 
appearance, of pronouncing it a case of dropsy of the uterus. She 
was so much altered in shape as to be considered a complete won- 
der by the whole district : many had travelled miles to see her. 
She had no other appearance of a cow save the head and tail. The 
belly had fallen down so much that it was within three inches 
of the ground. From the weight of the enormously distended ab- 
