RETENTION OF THE PLACENTA IN ^A COW. 689 
weight a quarter. He also says that the heifer did not die in 
calving, but that the calf was a very large one, and ably ex¬ 
tracted, with great difficulty, by Mr. Hampson, veterinary sur¬ 
geon, Ellesmere, who was some hours in cutting it away. She 
is now doing very well, and in calf again, and Mr. G. believes 
she will not be above two years old ere she next calves. 
A Mr. Knight, who resided some years ago in this town, had 
a heifer that brought a calf when she was fourteen or fifteen 
month old. 
Being at D. Poole’s, Esq. of Marbury Hall, the other day, I 
was mentioning these circumstances to the cowman there, 
who said that they had, two or three years ago, a Manx calf, 
not above three or four months old, that was frequently shewing 
a desire for the bull, and which was during the winter time. She 
W’as not allowed any intercourse with the bull until she was 
older, when she conceived. 
I am, from the facts mentioned in this and my last letter, 
inclined to think that the circumstance of calves seeking the 
bull, and becoming impregnated at so early a period, is not so 
rare a fact as we might be led to imagine, and have little doubt 
but many similar cases will be sent for your insertion. 
ON THE RETENTION OF THE PLACENTA IN A COW. 
Bj/ Mi\ W. Hodman, Thorney Abbey, 
I \VAS consulted on the 12th Oct. 1835, respecting a cow 
which had not evacuated the placenta, five days having elapsed 
since calving: she was in rather low condition, and seemed dull; 
there was slight fever, her milk much diminished, and her udder 
becoming indurated. Although the natural efforts of the animal 
were quite suspended, and, as often occurs, there was partial 
spasmodic stricture of the vagina, 1 did not think it a case in 
which manual assistance was even required, nor, perhaps, prac¬ 
ticable. I considered the fever, irritability, and spasmodic action 
as entirely depending on a disordered state of the digestive 
system, and had recourse to the following form of medicine: 
R sulph. sublim., magnes. sulph. aa ^iv ; aloes cap. pulv., zingib. 
pulv. aa ; valerian, pulv. ^ij, conii fob pulv. ^ij. 
1 ordered the cow to be kept warm and dry, and to be dieted 
with bran mashes, &c. and her udder perseveringly, yet gently, 
hand-rubbed. Within twenty-four hours she had cleansed, and 
in a day or two her milk jlushcd, and she was ([uite well. I have 
great dependence on large doses of valerian conjoined with co- 
