468 
W. L. WILLIAMS. 
repulsive condition ; the wounded perineum was greatly swollen, 
begrimed with faecal matter, suppurating and foetid, the tail be¬ 
sotted with filth, the patient tottering as she walked. 
Cleansing the external parts, a manual exploration of the 
uterus revealed metritis, and in the non-gravid cornua the pla¬ 
centa was found still attached. This was removed and the 
uterus washed and disinfected. 
Irrigation and disinfection (2 per cent, creolin) was con¬ 
tinued daily, with the internal administration of tonics, and for 
a time the patient apparently improved, but on April 4 seemed 
decidedly worse, with inappetence, fever and colicky pains, which 
continued until midday on the 7th, when she died. Autopsy, 
two hours later. The injured perineum was healing rapidly, 
and in good condition. Extensive metro-vagi 110-peritonitis, with 
strong adhesions between uterus and pelvic flexure of the colon, 
the perivaginal connective tissue was highly inflamed. Beneath 
the uterus and anterior to the urinary bladder was a series of 
adhesions between the uterine and parietal peritoneum, inter¬ 
spersed with abscesses filled with foetid pus and detritus, and 
having gangrenous walls. These abscesses communicated with 
the uterine cavity by a narrow opening, which would admit an 
ordinary lead pencil. This was clearly the source of the fatal 
infection, and had evidently been caused by the force used in 
the extraction of the foetus, not as directly probably as is gener¬ 
ally supposed, but by the adhesion of a section of the uterine 
wall to the foetus, and being drawn backwards into the pelvis ill 
a fold, where it became impinged between some resistant part 
of the foal and the pelvic brim. 
Numerous veterinary obstetrists record successful delivery 
of mares by this method, and some go so far as to recommend 
it as the proper procedure. We have had occasion to observe 
the results of several of these deliveries, though never attempt¬ 
ing one ourselves, and have not known either mare or foal to 
survive in any case. Neither do we in these cases of dystokia at¬ 
tempt to correct the deviation of the head unless it be very slight, 
because in the severe cases we usually have found a wry neck. 
