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442 
GEORGE BRIDGES. 
What the cause of parturient apoplexy is, I said previ 
ously, an enigma. There is no doubt, as some authors claim, 
a predisposing cause, but how often we see it attack those that 
had been well guarded from all pre-disposition. 
Last summer during July last, I had the opportunity to watch 
three cows that were to calve about the same time, all about the 
same age. All three were fat, fit for beef. One I prepared and 
watched carefully, the other two had no preparation except that 
one was taken from pasture and put in a small enclosure of about 
an acre with short feed, the other run as usual in the pasture till 
the time of calving. The one I prepared and had carefully fed, 
had a good place to exercise in and was looked to carefully by 
her owner, a man who has had far too much practical experience 
with this disease to benefit his pocket, and who is unusually ob¬ 
serving and intelligent. That cow was the worst case I ever 
had; lived for six days, then died, never once responding to any 
treatment from the beginning to the end. 
The other one, more plethoric if any, that was confined in one 
acre field with short feed, came near dying trying to have her 
calf, afterwards doing nicely. The third went down with partu¬ 
rient apoplexy twenty-four hours after calving; in twenty-four 
hours more she was on her feet; she got well; so much for pre¬ 
disposing causes. As to the actual cause it seems to me that 
Barlow’s theory is the most reasonable, according to my obser¬ 
vations of the symptoms, that it is a general derangement of the 
sympathetic nervous system. What causes that derangement is 
not explained. There must be some explanation when we bear 
in mind how important a part the sympathetic nervous system 
plays in parturition. 
Fleming says the sympathetic nerve is most concerned in the 
uterine contractions, as it is the motor nerve of the organ. Its 
influence is called forth by the irritation produced on the termi¬ 
nations of the nerves, on the inner surface of the uterus by reflex 
action, the irritation being transformed into involuntary motor 
activity. If this is true, we might not be amiss in looking here 
for the cause. I have thought that as parturient apoplexy gen¬ 
erally follows an easy and quick birth, that in some manner uterine 
