RUPTURE OF THE VAOINA. 
462 
the peritonea] sac was not open; the thickening of the tissues 
could readily be detected through the walls of the rectum, bor 
treatment, a dose of cathartic medicine was given, which relieved 
the constipation, followed by small doses of aconite and local in¬ 
jections of the vagina with a weak solution of carbolic acid. 
Within ten days’ time cicatrization was completed, and the mare 
returned to her work. 
About two weeks later, I was called to the second case. She 
had been covered three days before, but no haemorrhage followed 
the intercourse, and there had been but little discharge from the 
vulva, although straining was quite frequent during the first two 
days. At the time of my visit the patient was suffering from 
acute diffuse traumatic peritonitis. On making a vaginal examin¬ 
ation, a wound, somewhat irregular in outline, was found in the 
same situation as in 'the other case, with the exception that it was 
a little farther forward. In exploring it the hand passed directly 
into the peritoneal cavity, while the tissues surrounding the wound 
were inflamed and somewhat swollen. The wound in the vagina 
was not, within itself, in this case, any more serious than in the 
previous one, nor should it generally be attended with more un¬ 
favorable results than the surgical wound made in the same local¬ 
ity when castrating the mare; but owing to the contusions of the 
tissues and the supervening peritonitis the patient rapidly suc¬ 
cumbed and died four days after receiving the injury. 
From the paucity of cases reported in English veterinary litera¬ 
ture, this injury to the vagina must be exceedingly rare in English 
speaking countries, yet it presents many points of interest. In the 
two mares in question, the vagina was of the usual length, and the 
tissues apparently had not undergone degenerative changes that 
would either render them less capable of distension or more easy 
of rupture. 
The disproportion in size between the male and females was 
by no means so great as is often seen, nor could I determine that 
the male organ of copulation was of an unusual length. The 
question, why did rupture of the vagina take place in these cases \ 
is one I cannot answer. 
The male was reported as excessively violent in his copulative 
