452 
HUBERT T. FOOTE. 
column ; the animals switch their tails and sometimes have light 
colics, but these are of short duration. If they cease to eat, 
drink or ruminate at all, it is only for a short time, and in two or 
three days they are to all appearances perfectly well. The incision 
in the vagina heals readily by first intention, and in a few days, 
owing to the contractility of the tissue of the part. 
The complications following the operation are : 
1st. Haemorrhage from the ovarian arteries. 
2d. Peritonitis. 
3d. Abcess in the pelvic cavity. 
4th. Return of the rut. 
The first of these is always to be dreaded. I attribute the 
cause of it, in the four cases which showed extensive blood-clots, 
to an alteration in the ovarian blood vessels and ligaments. In 
very old cows such as these were, there is sometimes an excessive 
friability of these organs, which, predisposed to break easily, are 
in the worst condition possible to submit to the crushing of the 
ecraseur, and thus exposes the blood vessels to haemorrhage, 
which always results seriously. I noticed a great difference in 
the amount of force required in crushing off the ovaries in dif¬ 
ferent animals, the attachments being the strongest in the middle 
aged cows, and being very weak in some of the oldest. If in 
these cases haemorrhage is expected the arteries should be ligatured 
at the time of operating. When the haemorrhage cannot be ac¬ 
counted for by some abnormal condition of the cord, it is probably 
due to improper use of the ecraseur. From the lesions found in 
the other three cows, in which there were slight blood-clots, it is 
to be inferred that small haemorrhages are not dangerous. It is 
probable that in these cases the loss of blood in the animals was 
due to their having been in rut at the time of operating. During 
the period of rut the ovaries are highly congested and in conse¬ 
quence predisposed to haemorrhage. 
The peritonitis is the most frequent and serious of the conse¬ 
quences. As its causes, we may enumerate haemorrhage from the 
ovarian arteries, exposure of the animal to cold and damp weather, 
predisposition of the subject, abortion,and lastly the introduction in¬ 
to the abdominal cavity of air far below the temperature to which 
