450 
HUBERT T. FOOTE. 
blood clots iu the abdomen, two died on the second day after the 
operation, one on the third, two on the fourth, one on the fifth, 
and one on the sixth day, making in all seven. The three in 
which gangrene of the uterus was found, died on the sixth day 
after operating. As regards those that were found in the river, 
it makes little difference as to the days, excepting that none were 
lost in that manner until the third day after the operation. 
This was a large mortality, but I think I am able to account 
for it. These cows were gathered from a distance of seventy-five 
miles or over, to the ranch, so, many of them had traveled a long 
distance, of course only in short stages, each day going about ten 
or twelve miles, but the last day they were driven twenty-five 
miles, only getting a nip of feed here and there, and on arriving 
at the ranch were corralled, going all night without food. For 
the next three or four days they were driven about considerably, 
getting only little feed and rest; at the same time their calves 
were branded. This always excites them. These animals are per¬ 
fectly wild and all handling is done by force. By the time they 
were ready for operation, their physical condition was run down, 
and they were excited and feverish. While I was operating on 
the first day the rest of the cows were grazed and rested, and as 
the temperature moderated somewhat towards the last, the mor¬ 
tality decreased. The nights succeeding the operations were very 
severe, blowing a gale and storming the first two, while the last 
two were scarcely more favorable, excepting that the wind was 
not so strong. Then again, with only two exceptions, the cows 
all had calves, which worried them greatly by incessantly sucking 
and butting at the mammae, when there could be little or no milk 
had. The operations were carried on more quickly and smoothly 
than with the previous lot, passing the animals at the rate of 
about eight per hour, one reason being that I had had more prac¬ 
tice, and another that they were secured more quickly and firmly 
by means of an apparatus that a cattle owner in Cheyenne had 
used, having experimented somewhat extensively in the operation 
through the flank on his own cows. It consisted in a lever work¬ 
ing against one side of the chute. It swung on a pivot at the bot¬ 
tom, and glided between two stanchions above. As the cow 
