U) 
RETENTION OF THE FCETUS. 
least offensive smell; they were nearly white, and when washed,’ 
beautifidly clean. The hoofs not at all in a decomposed state, and 
one of them rather impacted in the mouth of the os tincse, as if 
it w^as for escaping, but which aperture was scarcely at all dilat¬ 
ed. Of course, it must have been a very young foetus. 
2\st June, 1837.—I went to see a fine four-years old Cheshire 
ewe, the property of a very intelligent farmer, a Mr. Cookson, of 
the Woodhouses. A month or two ago, on shearing his sheep, 
he discovered that this ewe had not yeaned, and that the lamb 
was coming out at the bottom of the belly. When I saw her, 
I found there was an opening about the umbilicus, as large as 
one could get two or three fingers through, and a little hair was 
hanging, and matter oozing out. The foetus could be distinctly 
felt at the lower part of the abdomen, and seemed hard. I got 
out, with a pair of dissecting forceps, many pieces of hair and 
skin, and also one fore leg as far as the shoulder, and a part 
of another. I could lay hold of other pieces, but could not get 
them through. I therefore desisted for the present, as 1 had not 
proper instruments for extracting it, and promised to see her 
again in a week’s time, when I would bring other instruments 
with me. 
2Sth June ,—I this day went again; but found the orifice as 
nearly as possible closed up; and as she seemed to be improving 
in condition, we thought it prudent to leave her alone for the 
present, and see if she continued to gain condition, rather than 
risk her life by laying open the parts, and having her teazed 
with flies. 
6M Nov .—Until within about a week of this date, she had 
been slowly improving in condition; but within the last week or 
so, in consequence of there being a good deal of wet weather, 
she began to decline, and the owner thought it prudent to 
have her killed, and accordingly I this day saw her opened by a 
butcher. 
Examination .—On the outside, about the opening, the parts 
were a little thickened, and portions of bones were projecting 
out and pressing around the orifice, which was as large as one 
could push one’s finger through. The vagina and os uteri were 
natural and pervious; but immediately anterior to the os uteri, the 
uterus, for at least a foot, was no thicker than a thin pipe stem, 
and very similar in appearance and structure to one of the 
ureters, and would merely admit a probe up it. Anterior to this 
portion, perhaps for four or five inches, it became wider and 
more muscular, and divided into tw^o passages, in which were 
contained a few small bones: from this part the body of the 
uterus expanded to half the size of one’s head (the two short cavi- 
