64 PURE BRED DRAFT HORSES 
weather but take the chill off by adding a little hot water or by the in¬ 
sertion of a hot iron into a pail of water. 
“Care should also be used in feeding grain to the dam directly after 
foaling, but in a few days she may be fed liberally commencing lightly 
and increasing gradually—with a mixture of ground oats, cracked wheat, 
and corn meal lightened up with bran. A good mixture may consist of 
five bushels of oats to one of wheat, one of corn meal, and two of bran. 
The foals will soon learn to eat with their mothers. 
“If the weather is suitable the sooner the foal is turned into a warm, 
dry, and sunny yard the better. The dam should not be allowed to stand 
in a draught of air or remain out in damp or chilly weather.” 
After foaling Henry and Morrison 53 advise to give the mare “a drink 
of water or better, of gruel made from half a pound of fine oatmeal in half 
a bucket of lukewarm water. A light food of bran is good for the first 
meal, and this may be followed by oats, or by equal parts by bulk of corn 
and bran. After foaling the mare should be confined for a few days, her 
ration being simple and not too abundant. With favorable conditions, 
after 4 or 5 days she may be turned to pasture, and in about 2 weeks, or 
even before, if work is urgent and the mare has fully recovered, she may 
go back to light work, for a part of the day at least.” 
16. Common and Infectious Diseases, and Other Ailments 
Metritis 
Acute Metritis. “Foremost among the puerperal infections, from the 
standpoint of frequency and seriousness, stand the acute infections of the 
uterus. 
“The causes of acute metritis consist of any of those elements which 
may favor the introduction into the uterine cavity, and the growth there, 
of disease-producing bacteria. 
“Standing at the head of causes of metritis, is the retention of the 
fetal envelopes. Whenever the normal period at which these should 
become separated and expelled has passed by, without such expulsion, 
they immediately constitute a source of danger for the well-being of the 
animal. They promptly cease to constitute a part of the living tissues, 
the circulation of blood within them ceases, and they furnish a favorable 
medium in which bacteria may multiply. In most cases the membranes 
extend from the uterus out through the vagina and vulva, where they 
become soiled with feces and other highly infected material, and con¬ 
stitute an open highway, along which the bacteria may rapidly travel as 
well as multiply, until they reach the uterine cavity. The presence of 
the membranes keeps open the cervix of the uterus, and prevents to a 
large degree the normal involution of the organ. Added to this the in¬ 
terference with the retained membranes, with a view to their removal, 
by laymen, empirics or other incompetent persons, serves to intensify 
the danger of infection by wounding and abrading the organ. 
“Another very fruitful cause of metritis is the introduction of infec¬ 
tion into the cavity of the organ, upon the hands, instruments or ap¬ 
paratus of the veterinary obstetrist during the overcoming of dystokia or 
other manipulations of the organ. 
“Wounds of the organ during manipulations of any kind greatly facili¬ 
tate the entrance into the tissues of any infection which may gain ad¬ 
mission to the uterine cavity. 
“The presence of a dead fetus, which is undergoing putrid decomposition 
in the uterus, inevitably causes a more or less serious metritis. In some 
instances, where the death of the fetus is comparatively recent and the 
putrid decomposition has not progressed far, the degree of metritis 
may be comparatively unimportant or may even pass unnoticed. In other 
cases, where the putrid fetus has remained in the uterus for a longer 
