MANAGEMENT OF THE BROOD MARE 
65 
period of time and the decomposition has become quite complete, the in¬ 
flammation of the organ is correspondingly great and serious. After a 
long period of fetal decomposition, the uterine walls may finally assume 
the character and functions of abscess walls. 
“When the fetus dies in the uterus and does not become decomposed, 
but undergoes mummification instead, it does not tend to induce inflam¬ 
mation of the organ. 
“Tardy involution of the uterus constantly tends to invite infection. 
When the uterus does not promptly close, and its walls fail to quickly 
come in contact with each other, there is probably a similar tardiness in 
the contraction of the vagina and vulva, so that the entire tract remains 
somewhat freely open, inviting infection. The debility of the organ, of 
which the tardy involution is but a symptom, decreases its power of re¬ 
sisting the infection. When the organ undergoes normal involution and 
contracts vigorously, that vigor in itself acts largely to prevent or over¬ 
come infection. 
“Exposure to cold or wet has also been claimed to act as a causative 
agent in metritis. It no doubt occupies an important, though indirect 
place. Any sudden chill, or disturbance of the body in general, weakens 
and depresses the highly sensitive genital tract, and renders infection 
far more probable than though the animal were kept under more favor¬ 
able conditions. 
Chronic metritis. “Allied to acute metritis, and frequently following 
it as a sequel, there occurs a chronic inflammation of the uterus, which 
is characterized by suppuration of the uterine cavity, with more or less 
accumulation of pus, constituting pyometra, or in case the cervical canal 
of the uterus becomes completely occluded a large volume of pus may be 
confined within the uterine cavity, to constitute abscess of the uterus. 
“. . . It may appear at almost any period in the life of the animal, 
and its relation to parturition is variable. It occurs almost always in 
females which have previously bred, but the duration of time elapsing 
between the last birth and the appearance of the disease is not constant. 
In some cases, puometra or chronic metritis follows parturition after an 
interval of a few weeks, or there may be a more or less definite acute 
metritis, which partially recovers, to be continued somewhat indefinitely 
as a chronic, purulent inflammation, 
“Anything which may lead to an infection of the uterus, and permit 
it to continue for a long period of time, suffices to establish the disease. 
Anything, therefore, which would debilitate the organ or the general sys¬ 
tem, or which would favor or lead to the introduction of micro-organisms 
into the uterus, would act as a cause of the malady. Prominent among 
the recognizable causes of this malady are retained fetal membranes and 
any of those causes which operate to bring about acute metritis . . . 
“In many cases manipulations during dystokia appear to be the es¬ 
sential source of an infection, which, though not sufficiently virulent to 
bring about an acute metritis, nevertheless induces a chronic suppura¬ 
tive disease of the organ. 
“. . . This affection is by far most frequently seen in those mares 
which have at some previous time been bred, and have been allowed to 
go without further attempts at breeding. It is consequently more com¬ 
mon, according to our observations, in localities where few horses are 
raised, than in those districts where most mares are regularly used for 
breeding purposes. 
“In addition to the general causes of chronic metritis . . . it is not 
rare to observe chronic metritis in the mare, in cases, because of ap¬ 
parent sterility, the stallion groom has attempted to ‘open’ the uterus 
with a view to inducing the mare to conceive. The groom has forced 
his dirty hand through the cervix of the uterus in a rough manner, 
