506 
G. S. AGERSBORG. 
died ; but in paliation, let me say this was in 1848. But this is a 
digression. What should we do in any or all cases to prevent the 
possibility of danger? We suggest, nay, we insist, that in every 
case the uterus should be injected immediately after delivery 
with an abundance of warm water, holding in solution perman¬ 
ganate of potassa, carbolic acid, or simply vinegar; then, above 
all, shut the uterus lightly, give ergot in large doses, or, better 
still, ergotine hypodermically. Let the obstetrician never leave liis 
patient till the uterus has been at least partially contracted and well 
down in the pelvis. The case will be safe then, not only from 
infection from without, but from hemorrhage within. 
Before closing this article we will introduce one case illustrat¬ 
ing death from a mechanical injury to the uterus, occurring in a cow 
exhausted and depleted by travel and insufficient food. When 
called to see her she had just stopped from a journey of three hun¬ 
dred miles, was a primipara in the ninth month of gestation ; there 
were no symptoms of labor at the time, but the patient was suf¬ 
fering from hoven, caused by over-feeding. We relieved her of 
the hoven ; she was apparently well until forty-eight hours after, 
when labor developed, and from foetal dystocia the foetus had 
to be extracted. This I accomplished easily, delivering a decay¬ 
ing foetus, placenta and membranes being delivered intact. In 
forty-eight hours the animal was attacked with chills, succeeded 
by fever, death taking place in twelve hours. Post-mortem re¬ 
vealed a foetal hoof in the uterus, with lesions of continuity 
in the mucous expansion of the uterus. It is a fact well-known to 
veterinary surgeons that cows rarely fall victims to injuries from 
labor; the most serious usually recover. But here we have 
again the pathological aptitude on account of the reduced con¬ 
dition of the animal from travel and starvation. 
And now, gentlemen, in closing, we ask you to be sparing in 
your criticism of our crudely-expressed ideas; we have given 
them because it is part of the curriculum, and not expecting to 
make a contribution to veterinary science ; we are not a patriarch 
in medicine, but a humble student of veterinary surgery. 
