38 INVERSION OF THE BLADDER DURING PARTURITION. 
the orifices of the ureters, and it was the distention of these 
vessels with. urine that caused the supposed colic. The bladder 
was of a pyramidal form, with the point uppermost, and it was 
difficult to keep the ligature in its place. I replaced the liga- 
ture, however, and fastened it to two bits of wood which passed 
through the bladder lower down. Every day I tightened the 
ligature until the whole mass was loosened, and which, weighing 
nearly six pounds, and stinking almost insupportably, hung by 
a small pedicle. I cut through it without hemorrhage. The 
remaining part retracted immediately as far as the meatus uri- 
narius, and the lips of the vulva closed, and nothing more was 
to be seen. The urine, however, running continually through 
the ureters, accumulated a little in the vulva, and was thence 
frequently ejected, and, running down the thighs, excoriated them 
more and more. I then determined to have a little projecting 
spout of tin made, with a brass wire attached to it, by means of 
which it might be fastened to the vulva. I fitted it on the fol- 
lowing morning below the inferior commissure of the lips of the 
vulva, the two extremities of the wire extending on either side of 
the opening into the vulva, and being retained by two cross 
pieces which were fastened to the crupper, and her tail was then 
shortened so that she could not disarrange this simple machinery. 
By this means the urine was thrown beyond the hocks, and a few 
emollient lotions healed the excoriations that had been made. 
The mare was put to work six weeks after the accident, and, at 
the expiration of three months, she was sold at the fair of 
St. Lo. 
This case, on account of its extreme rarity, is more curious 
than useful. It proves that we ought never to despair in the 
most serious cases, and even when the life of the patient seems 
to be compromised. It would be of some importance to ascer- 
tain when and how the bladder was ruptured. The proprietor 
perceived it before the foal was extracted, but he did not know 
how long the labour had continued before he began to assist 
her. The long and violent efforts to which she had abandoned 
herself, and the fore limbs of the foal being higher than they 
naturally should be, and pressing against the rectum until they 
were pulled down by the owner — could these have been the 
causes of the inversion ? 
Mem. de Soc. Vet. da Calvados. 
