THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XXXI, 
No. 367. 
JULY, 1858. 
Fourtli Series, 
No. 43. 
Communications and Cases. 
RUPTURE OF THE VAGINA, AND ESCAPE OF 
THE INTESTINES, OF A PARTURIENT MARE, 
WITH SIMULTANEOUS ABORTION IN A 
SECOND XI ARE. 
Communicated by W. Field, M.R.C.V.S., London. 
[We are indebted to Mr. Field for the following particulars 
of a somewhat singular occurrence in two pregnant mares. 
We have occasionally known a laceration of the vagina to 
take place in the act of parturition, and have seen the intes- 
tines escape through the opening. Cases of this kind are 
generally fatal in mares , but there are some instances recorded 
of the recovery of cows under similar circumstances. The 
abortion of the second mare was a remarkable coincidence, 
and one which it is difficult correctly to explain.] 
Oakley Rectory ; April 6, 1858. 
Sir, — Your extensive acquaintance among gentlemen who 
take an interest in horses, and also amongst veterinary sur- 
geons, induces me to think that the following extraordinary 
circumstance may not be unworthy of your attention. 
A young chesnut mare of the Suffolk breed, the property 
of Mr. Beach, M.P., of Oakley Hall, Basingstoke, was ex- 
pected to foal on Monday last, the 15th of March, and was 
put into one of the bays of a barn with that view ; and at the 
same time another mare, expected to foal two months after , was 
put into the opposite bay. Both were fenced off from con- 
tact with each other, and had the breadth of the floor inter- 
vening between them. 
xxxi. 48 
