COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY. 
559 
anxious to destroy those prejudices which may lessen our ability 
to alleviate her pains. We do not find the internal mucous mem- 
branes suffer generally from cold. Injections of the temperature 
of the atmosphere are commonly thrown into the urethra, and the 
water of the well taken into the stomach usually causes a sense of 
refreshment. In some gastric disorders ice is prescribed with 
much advantage ; and I should only resist its application to the 
interior of the womb from a conviction that so low a degree of cold 
was not required to produce the desired effect. All that is wanted 
is such a reduction of temperature as would stimulate the organic 
fibre to contract ; and, so far as the trials I have made warrant any 
conclusion, pump water is equal to this intention. I have used it 
in other cases, and I will here narrate one in which it was em- 
ployed immediately after delivery. 
I was requested to see a small terrier bitch that had been some 
hours straining to bring forth her pups. The animal was of the 
highest breed, not weighing more than five pounds. One pup was 
in the passage, and, by separating the labia, could just be seen. 
No attempt to interfere with the natural process was made ; but 
the hands were employed to assist the action of the abdominal 
muscles when the throes came on. In a few minutes the pup was 
sufficiently advanced to be laid hold of, and, after some time, with 
gentle traction it was brought forth. The pup was dead ; but on 
examination I discovered there was another to be born. The bitch 
was evidently exhausted, and I therefore left it undisturbed for two 
hours. No signs of progress being then exhibited, a little sweetened 
brandy and water was administered, and in half an hour the dose 
was repeated. The throes then reappeared, and, four hours and a 
half from the first birth, a live pup was extracted. The bitch lay 
upon its side, and could only feebly bestow those attentions to its 
offspring which in ordinary cases these animals afford with such 
evident satisfaction. I was endeavouring to restore the exhausted 
strength of the dog, when I observed a stream of bright arterial 
blood flowing from the vagina. The hemorrhage gradually in- 
creased, and the bitch, raising itself, began to shew symptoms of 
delirium. The case looked desperate, and, concluding that the 
bleeding was caused by the uterus, in consequence of the enfeebled 
condition of the animal, not having power to contract, I resolved 
to resort to the injection of cold water. Half an ounce of tincture 
of galls was mixed with a quart of water drawn from the cistern 
which supplied the house ; but not more than the third of a pint 
had been used before a sharp but low cry informed me that the 
agent had done its work. No more was injected, but the hemor- 
rhage ceased, and the bitched seemed to be refreshed. She was 
evidently stronger, and took that notice of her pup which pre- 
