Chapter IX: Part 9

Of all the modes of examination by touch, that done through the rectum gives the earliest satisfactory indications. The hand and arm, well oiled, are introduced, and the excrement having been removed if necessary, the palm of the hand is turned downward and the floor of the pelvis carefully examined. There will be felt in the median line the pear-shaped outline of the bladder, more or less full, rounded or tense, according to the quantity of urine it contains. Between this and the hand will be felt a soft, somewhat rounded tubular body, which divides in front into two smaller tubes or branches, extending to the right and left into the abdomen. This is the womb, which in its virgin, or unimpregnated, condition is of nearly uniform size from before backward, the main part or body being from 1-1/2 to 2 inches across, and the two anterior branches or horns being individually little over an inch wide. Immediately after conception the body and one of the horns begin to enlarge, the vacant horn remaining disproportionately small, and the enlargement will be most marked at one point, where a solid, rounded mass indicates the presence of the growing embryo. In case of twins, both horns are enlarged. At a more advanced stage, when the embryo begins to assume the form of the future animal, the rounded form gives place to a more or less irregular nodular mass, while later still the head, limbs, and body of the fetus may be distinctly made out. The chief source of fallacy is found in the very pendent abdomen of certain cows, into which in advanced gestation the fetus has dropped so low that it can not be felt by the hand in the rectum. The absence of the distinct outline of the vacant womb, however, and the clear indications obtained on external examination through the right flank will serve to prevent any mistake. The fetus may still be felt through the rectum if the abdomen is raised by a sheet passed from side to side beneath it.

Still another sign is the beating of the fetal heart, which may be heard in the latter half of pregnancy when the ear is pressed on the flank in front of the right stifle or from that downward to the udder. The beats, which are best heard in the absence of rumbling, are about 120 a minute and easily distinguished from any bowel sounds by their perfect regularity.

DURATION OF PREGNANCY.

From extended statistics it is found that the average duration of pregnancy in the cow is 285 days. A calf born at the two hundred and fortieth day may live, and Dietrichs reported a case of a calf born on the three hundred and thirty-fifth day, and another was reported by the American Journal of Medical Science as having been born on the three hundred and thirty-sixth day. It is the general observation that in most cases of prolonged pregnancies the offspring are males. Lord Spencer found a preponderance of males between the two hundred and ninetieth and the three hundredth days, but strangely enough all born after the three hundredth day under his observation were females. It may be reasonably inferred that while the prevailing tendency is to carry the males overtime, yet that the smaller and comparatively much less developed female sometimes fails to stimulate the womb to contraction until very far beyond the regular date.

HYGIENE OF THE PREGNANT COW.

Among domestic animals considerations of hygiene must be made subservient to profit, and therefore the first consideration is not to obtain the most robust health, but such a measure of vigor and stamina as is compatible with the most profitable utilization of the animal. The breeding cow must carry a calf every year, and this notwithstanding that she is at the same time suckling another large, growing calf. The dairy cow must breed every year, and at the same time must furnish a generous flow of milk from nine to eleven months yearly. If her health is lowered thereby or her life shortened, the question of profit must still hold sway, and, when disqualified, she must yield her place to another. There are exceptions, of course, but this rule generally holds.

There are certain points, however, in which the interests of hygiene may be considered. The pregnant cow should have exercise, and as regards both exercise and feed, nothing is better than a run on a smooth pasture. She should be withheld from all violent excitement, hunting with dogs, riding or being ridden by cows in heat, driving in herd rapidly through narrow gateways, causing to jump ditches or fences, subjecting to blows with the horns of pugnacious cattle, driving on icy or otherwise slippery ground, carrying in railroad cars, kicking by vicious attendants, and fastening or throwing down for operations. The diet should be good, not of a kind to fatten, but with a generous quantity of nitrogenous constituents which will favor both the yield of milk and the nourishment of the fetus. Aliments like wheat bran, middlings, etc., which are rich in lime and phosphates, can be used to advantage, as there is a constant drain of earthy salts for the building of the body of the calf, and thereby the danger of undue concentration of the urine is lessened. Hard, innutritious, and indigestible aliments, musty grain or hay, partially ripened rye grass, millet, Hungarian grass, vetches, peas, or maize are objectionable, as they are liable to cause indigestion or even paralysis; and corn or hay affected by smut or ergot, or that has been spoiled by wet, overripened, and rendered fibrous and innutritious, is equally objectionable. In the main the feed should be laxative, as costiveness and straining are liable to cause abortion. Roots and green feed that have been frosted are objectionable, as being liable to cause indigestion, though in their fresh condition most wholesome and desirable. Ice-cold water should be avoided, as calculated to check the flow of milk, to derange digestion, and to cause abortion. A good temperature for the drink of the dairy cow is 55∞ F.

In the case of plethoric and heavy-milking cows of mature age and in the prime of life, the hitherto liberal diet must be changed at the last week for the scantiest possible fare, and the bowels must be kept open by laxatives, if need be, if the owner would avoid milk fever. Her stall should not incline downward from shoulder to croup, lest the pressure of the abdominal organs should produce protrusion or abortion. She should be kept aloof from all causes of acute diseases, and all existing diseases should be remedied speedily and with as little excitement of the abdominal organs as possible. Strong purgatives and diuretics are to be especially avoided, unless it is in the very last days of gestation in very plethoric cows.

PROTRUSION OF THE VAGINA (PROLAPSUS VAGIN∆).

During pregnancy this is common from chronic relaxation of the vaginal walls and from lying in stalls that are lower behind than in front. The protrusion is of a rounded form and smooth, and if it embraces both sides of the canal it is double, with a passage between. It may sometimes be remedied by raising the hind part of the stall higher than the front part. This failing, a truss may be applied as for eversion of the womb, and worn until the period of calving approaches. (Pls. XXII, XXIII.)

HERNIA (BREACH) OF THE UTERUS.

In advanced pregnancy this occurs usually from a gradual relaxation and distention of the lower wall of the abdomen in the region of the udder, so that the latter is displaced downward, and in the sac above and in front of it may be felt the form and movements of the fetus. In other cases the womb escapes through a great laceration of the abdominal muscles to one side of the udder, and the hernial mass extends down to one side of that organ. However unsightly, this often allows the animal to complete its pregnancy naturally, and a broad, supporting bandage placed around the abdomen is about all that can be recommended. After calving it is best to fatten the cow.

CRAMPS OF THE HIND LIMBS.

The compression of the nerves by the womb and fetus passing through the pelvis sometimes causes cramp and inability to move the limb, but it disappears under friction and motion and is never seen after calving.

DROPSY OF THE HIND LIMBS AND BETWEEN THE THIGHS.

In the latter months of pregnancy the hind legs may swell beneath the hocks, or a soft swelling which pits on pressure with the finger appears from the vulva down between the thighs to the udder and in front. It is mainly ascribable to the pressure of the enlarged womb on the blood vessels, is not dangerous, and disappears after calving.

DROPSY OF THE MEMBRANES OF THE FETUS (DROPSY OF THE WOMB).

The unimpregnated womb may be filled with a dropsical fluid, but the pregnant womb is more liable to become overdistended by an excess of fluid in the inner water bag in which the fetus floats. (Pl. XII.) From an unhealthy state of this membrane or of blood of the fetus (water blood) this liquid may go on accumulating until the cow seems almost as broad as she is long. If the trouble has not originated in the ill health of the cow, the result is still to draw on her system, overtax her strength, and derange her digestion, so that the result may prove fatal to both mother and offspring. On the other hand, I have known extreme cases that came to the natural term without help and produced a living calf, after which the dam did well. The natural resort is to draw off a portion of the fluid through a hollow needle passed through the neck of the womb or through its tense wall adjacent. This may be repeated several times, as demanded, to relieve the cow from the injurious distention.

PARALYSIS OF THE HIND PARTS.

In ill-fed, weak, unthrifty cows palsy of the hind limbs and tail may appear in the last weeks of pregnancy. The anus and rectum may participate in the palsy so far as to prevent defecation, and the rectum is more or less completely impacted. Exposure to wet and cold are often accessory causes, though the low condition, general weakness, and the pressure on the nerves going to the hind limbs are not to be forgotten. Something may be done for these cases by a warm, dry bed, an abundant diet fed warm, frictions with straw wisps or with a liniment of equal parts of oil of turpentine and sweet oil on the loins, croup, and limbs, by the daily use of ginger and gentian, by the cautious administration of strychnia (1 grain twice daily), and by sending a current of electricity daily from the loins through the various groups of muscles in the hind limbs. The case becomes increasingly hopeful after calving, though some days may still elapse before the animal can support herself upon her limbs.

EXTRAUTERINE GESTATION (FETUS DEVELOPING OUTSIDE THE WOMB).

These curious cases are rare and are usually divided into three types: (1) That in which the fetus is formed in or on the ovary (ovarian gestation); (2) that in which it is lodged in the Fallopian tube, or canal between the ovary and womb (tubal gestation); and (3) that in which it is lodged in the abdominal cavity and attached to one or more of its contents from which it draws its nourishment (abdominal gestation). Undoubted cases of the first and last varieties are recorded as occurring in the cow. The explanation of such cases is to be found in the fact that the actively moving sperm cells (spermatozoa) thrown into the womb have made their way through the Fallopian tubes to the ovary. If they met and impregnated an ovum in the tube, and if the consequent growth of that ovum prevented its descent and caused its imprisonment within the tube, it developed there, getting attached to and drawing nourishment from the mucous walls. Such product has its development arrested by compression by the undilatable tube, or, bursting through the walls of the tube, it escapes into the abdomen and perishes. If, on the contrary, the spermatozoa only meet and impregnate the ovum on or in the ovary, the development may take place in the substance of the ovary, from which the fetus draws its nourishment, or the impregnated ovum, escaping between the ovary and the open end of the tube, falls into the abdominal cavity and becomes adherent to and draws nourishment from some of the abdominal organs (womb, bowel, liver, stomach, etc.).

_Symptoms._--The symptoms are those of pregnancy, which may be suddenly complicated by inflammation (peritonitis), owing to rupture of the sac containing the fetus; or at full term signs of calving appear, but no progress is made; an examination with the oiled hand in the vagina or rectum finds the womb empty and its mouth closed. Further examination will disclose the fetal sac attached in some part of the abdominal cavity and containing the more or less perfectly developed body of a calf. In the most hopeful cases the fetus perishes at an early stage of gestation, becomes inclosed in a fibrous sac, and is slowly absorbed, its soft parts becoming liquefied and removed and the bones remaining encysted. In some cases the bones have finally sloughed into the rectum or through an artificial opening in the side of the belly.

_Treatment._--Little can be done in such cases except to quiet pain and excitement by anodynes (opium, chloral, etc.) and leave the rest to nature. A fistula discharging bones may be dilated and the bones extracted, the sac being then washed out with a solution of 10 grains bichlorid of mercury in a quart of water. In certain cases with a live calf a skillful operator may be justified in cutting into the abdomen and extracting the calf with its membranes, using the lotion just named as an antiseptic.

PROLONGED RETENTION OF THE FETUS.

Even when the fetus has developed within the womb it may fail to be delivered at the proper time; labor pains have quickly subsided and the cow resumed her usual health. In such cases the calf dies, and its soft parts are gradually liquefied and absorbed, while its bones remain for years in the womb inclosed in the remains of the fetal membranes. These may be expelled at any time through the natural channels, or they may remain indefinitely in the womb, not interfering with the general health, but preventing conception.

If the true condition of things is recognized at the time of the subsidence of the labor pains, the mouth of the womb may be dilated by the fingers, by the insertion of sponge tents, or by a mechanical dilator (Pl. XX, fig. 6), the fetal membranes may be ruptured and the calf extracted. After the removal of the calf and its membranes the danger of putrid poisoning may be obviated by injecting the antiseptic solution advised in the paragraph above.

ABORTION (SLINKING THE CALF).

Technically, abortion is the term used for the expulsion of the offspring before it can live out of the womb. Its expulsion before the normal time, but after it is capable of an independent existence, is premature parturition. In the cow this may be after seven and one-half months of pregnancy. Earl Spencer failed to raise any calf born before the two hundred and forty-second day. Dairymen use the term abortion for the expulsion of the product of conception at any time before the completion of the full period of a normal pregnancy, and in this sense it will be used in this article.

Abortion in cows is either contagious or noncontagious. It does not follow that the contagium is the sole cause in every case in which it is present. We know that the organized germs (microbes) of contagion vary much in potency at different times, and that the animal system also varies in susceptibility to their attack. The germ may therefore be present in a herd without any manifest injury, its disease-producing power having for the time abated considerably, or the whole herd being in a condition of comparative insusceptibility. At other times the same germ may have become so virulent that almost all pregnant cows succumb to its force, or the herd may have been subjected to other causes of abortion which, though of themselves powerless to actually cause abortion, may yet so predispose the animals that even the weaker germ will operate with destructive effect. In dealing with this disease, therefore, it is the part of wisdom not to rest satisfied with the discovery and removal of one specific cause, but rather to try to find every existent cause and to obtain a remedy by correcting all the harmful conditions.

NONCONTAGIOUS ABORTION.

As abortion most frequently occurs at those three-week intervals at which the cow would have been in heat if nonpregnant, we may assume a predisposition at such times owing to a periodicity in the nervous system and functions. Poor condition, weakness, and a too watery state of the blood is often a predisposing cause. This in its turn may result from poor or insufficient feed, from the excessive drain upon the udder while bearing the calf, from the use of feed deficient in certain essential elements, like the nitrogenous constituents or albuminoids, from chronic, wasting diseases, from roundworms or tapeworms in the bowels, from flat-worms (flukes, trematodes) in the liver, from worms in the lungs, from dark, damp, unhealthful buildings, etc. In some such cases the nourishment is so deficient that the fetus dies in the womb and is expelled in consequence. Excessive loss of blood, attended as it usually is with shock, becomes a direct cause of abortion.

Acute inflammations of important organs are notorious causes of abortion, and in most contagious fevers (lung plague, rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease) it is a common result. Affections of the chest which prevent due aeration of the blood induce contractions of the womb, as shown experimentally by Brown-Sequard. Pregnant women suffocated in smoke aborted in many cases. (Retoul.)

Ergoted grasses have long been known as a cause of widespread abortion in cows. The ergot is familiar as the dark purple or black, hard, spurlike growths which protrude from the seeds of the grasses at the period of their ripening. (Pl. V.) It is especially common, in damp localities and cloudy seasons on meadows shaded by trees and protected against the free sweep of the winds. The same is to a large extent true of smut; hence, wet years have been often remarkable for the great prevalence of abortions. Abortions have greatly increased in New Zealand among cows since the introduction of rye grass, which is specially subject to ergot. As abortion is more prevalent in old dairying districts, the ergot may not be the sole cause in this instance.

The riding of one another by cows is attended by such severe muscular exertion, jars, jolts, mental excitement, and gravitation of the womb and abdominal organs backward that it may easily cause abortion in a predisposed animal.

Keeping in stalls that slope too much behind (more than 2 inches) acts in the same way, the compression from lying and the gravitation backward proving more than a predisposed cow can safely bear.

Deep gutters behind the stalls, into which one or both hind limbs slip unexpectedly, strain the loins and jar the body and womb most injuriously. Slippery stalls in which the flooring boards are laid longitudinally in place of transversely, and on which there is no device to give a firm foothold, are almost equally dangerous. Driving on icy ground, or through a narrow doorway where the abdomen is liable to be jammed, are other common causes. Aborting cows often fail to expel the afterbirth, and if this remains hanging in a putrid condition it is most injurious to pregnant cows in the near vicinity. So with retained afterbirth in other cows after calving. That some cows kept in filthy stables or with slaughterhouses near by may become inured to the odors and escape the evil results is no disproof of the injurious effects so often seen in such cases.

The excitement, jarring, and jolting of a railroad journey often cause abortion, especially as the cow nears the period of calving, and the terror or injury of railway or other accidents proves incomparably worse.

All irritant poisons cause abortions by the disorder and inflammation of the digestive organs, and if such agents act also on the kidneys or womb, the effect is materially enhanced. Powerful purgatives or diuretics should never be administered to the pregnant cow.

Among other causes of abortion must be named the death or the various illnesses of the fetus, which are about as numerous as those of the adult; the slipping of a young fetus through a loop in the navel string so as to tie a knot which will tighten later and interrupt the flow of blood with fatal effect, and the twisting of the navel string by the turning of the fetus until little or no blood can flow through the contorted cord. There is in addition a series of diseases of the mucous membrane of the womb, and of the fetal membranes (inflammation, effusion of blood, detachment of the membranes from the womb, fatty or other degenerations, etc.), which interfere with the supply of blood to the fetus or change its quality so that death is the natural result, followed by abortion.

_Treatment._--Although the first symptoms of abortion have appeared, it does not follow that it will go on to completion. So long as the fetus has not perished, if the waters have not been discharged, nor the water bags presented, attempts should be made to check its progress. Every appreciable and removable cause should be done away with, the cow should be placed in a quiet stall alone, and agents given to check the excitement of the labor pains. Laudanum in doses of 1 ounce for a small cow or 2 ounces for a large one should be promptly administered, and repeated in three or four hours should the labor pains recur. This may be kept up for days or even weeks if necessary, though that is rarely required, as the trouble either subsides or abortion occurs. If the laudanum seems to lack permanency of action, use bromid of potassium, or, better, extract of _Viburnum prunifolium_ (black haw), 40 grains, at intervals of two or three hours until five or six doses have been given.

CONTAGIOUS ABORTION.

Contagious abortion (also known as epizootic abortion, enzootic abortion, and slinking of calves) is a disease affecting chiefly cattle and to a lesser degree other domestic animals, and characterized by an inflammatory condition of the female reproductive organs, which results in the expulsion of the immature young.

_History._--This disease has been known in England and continental Europe for many years, and descriptions of it are mentioned in the writings of Mascal, Lafoose, Skellet, Lawrence, St. Cyr, Z¸ndel, and Youatt. In the early part of the eighteenth century British veterinarians recognized its contagiousness, but it remained for Franck (1876), Lehnert (1878), and Br‰uer (1880) to produce the disease in healthy, pregnant cows by the introduction of exudate and material from aborting animals. Nocard (1888) isolated from the exudate between the mucous membrane of the uterus and fetal membranes a micrococcus and a short bacillus which were found continually in contagious abortion, but he failed to reproduce the disease by inoculations of pure cultures of these organisms into healthy, pregnant animals. In 1897 Bang, assisted by Stribolt, published their findings regarding infectious abortion of cattle, in which they incriminated Bang's bacillus of abortion as the causative agent. With pure cultures of this bacillus they were able to produce the disease artificially and to recover the same organism from the experimental cases. Since that time many noted investigators, both in this country and in Europe, have confirmed these findings.

_Cause._--The _Bacterium abortus_ of Bang is now generally recognized as the causative agent of the disease of cattle. Formerly it was thought that abortion was due to injury, such as blows, horn thrusts, falls, etc., or the eating of spoiled feed and certain plants, and while this may be true in a limited number of cases, careful investigations have demonstrated these claims to be largely unfounded. It is now generally recognized that when abortion occurs in herds from time to time, it is safe to assume that the disorder is of an infectious nature and should be so treated.

_Natural mode of infection._--This phase of the disease is of greatest importance for a clear understanding of the methods of prevention. Many investigators have demonstrated that the infection is transmitted through the digestive tract, through contaminated feed and water. The germs are taken up by the body from the intestines with the liquid nourishment, reach the blood, and are carried to the genital organs, where they find conditions best suited to their development. Some assert that calves are infected in this manner by suckling infected mothers, the germs being present in the milk, or the teats having been contaminated by coming in contact with infective discharges. It is claimed that infection contracted in this manner remains dormant in the body of the calf until pregnancy begins, and then the organism, finding conditions suitable for its development, produces the disease.

Abortion may occasionally be transmitted from cow to cow by direct contact. The discharges from diseased cows, swarming with the germs, soil the external genitals, tail, and hind quarters, and then a susceptible animal, by contact, gets the infective material upon the vulva, the infection traveling up the genital canal and directly infecting the uterus.

The belief long entertained that the female acquires the disease at the time of copulation as a result of transference of the infection from affected to healthy females on the genital organs of the bull has failed to receive the support of experimental evidence. The view that the disease is spread to any great degree in this way has been largely discredited. Cows of all ages are more or less susceptible, but young ones in first or second pregnancy most frequently abort. A second abortion is not unusual, and a third may occasionally occur, after which the cow usually becomes immune and thereafter carries her calf to maturity. Heifers from aborting mothers sometimes seem to be less susceptible than others.

_Symptoms._--Contagious abortion is a very insidious disease, developing very slowly through several months of the gestation period, and resulting finally in the expulsion of the immature young, this act being simply an indication of the presence of the disease and not the disease itself. Because of this slow development and the fact that the health of the animal is not noticeably influenced, the presence of the disease may not be suspected until it has gained a firm foothold in the herd. The symptoms of approaching abortion are those preceding normal calving. In addition, there may be observed, a few days previous to abortion, a sticky, sometimes purulent, rusty, and odorless discharge. Abortion occurs most frequently from the third to the seventh month, according to the number of abortions, occurring early in first abortion, and later in each succeeding abortion until the calf is carried to full term and the mother has become immune. It happens frequently that calves are carried almost to full term, and are born alive, but are sickly, and soon die. Following abortion there is a dirty, yellowish-gray mucopurulent discharge which persists for two or more weeks. If abortion occurs early, the fetus is passed surrounded by its membranes, but if late in the period of pregnancy, the membranes are retained, decomposition sets in and blood poisoning, which may cause the death of the animal, or sterility may result.

_Lesions._--The most characteristic change is found in the uterus where a dark-brown fluid, purulent or even gluey in consistency, and containing grayish-white flakes separates the material membranes from those of the fetus, preventing that intimate contact between the two which is so necessary for the interchange of fluids and gases by which the fetus is nourished and by which it obtains its oxygen. These being cut off, the fetus must of course die. The germs producing the disease are found in greatest numbers at this point. In addition there may be inflammatory changes, first in the walls of the uterus and then in the tissues of the fetus. These inflammatory changes seem most intense in the cotyledons and result in the destruction of the minute structure of those bodies, and they appear swollen, pale, and soft. The membrane of the uterus between the cotyledons also may show inflamed and necrotic patches.

_Complications._--Serious results sometimes follow abortion, and this is particularly the case when there is retained afterbirth. The retained membranes decompose, the poisonous products of decomposition and the organisms of decomposition themselves are absorbed, blood poisoning results, and the animal dies. Sometimes, when the animal is able to resist the effects of this decomposition, the uterus becomes the seat of such severe changes that sterility results. The walls of that organ become thickened and hard, the lining membranes become eroded, and conception can not take place. At other times the ovaries, where the reproductive cells originate, become affected and lose their function. Abortion does not invariably follow infection, but the calf is carried to full term. In these cases, however, retained afterbirth is a common occurrence, even to the extent that frequent retention of afterbirth in a herd may be taken as an indication of the presence of the disease. Very often suppurative processes persist for a long time, preventing conception, or sterility may result without apparent cause. A sterile cow is valueless, of course, for any purpose except for beef. Such animals are a source of infection for the others and should not be allowed to remain in the herd.

_Diagnosis._--The diagnosis of infectious abortion is made from the changes occurring in the fetal membranes and in the expelled fetus. This, however, is substantiated with certainty only by microscopic demonstration of the germ of abortion. The fact that repeated abortions are observed in a herd is also evidence of the presence of the disease. In consideration, however, of the fact that animals may be affected with the disease and disseminate the germs, even though they carry the fetus to full time, a diagnosis in such instances is only possible by laboratory methods. For this purpose the agglutination and also the complement-fixation tests are being used with splendid results, and by the aid of these biological tests it is possible to determine all infected animals in a herd. The tests are carried out with the serum from animals to be examined, only a teaspoonful of serum being necessary for the execution of both of these tests. It, however, has to be confined to laboratories which are properly equipped for such work.

_Treatment and prevention._--It may be said in general that treatment is without avail and all efforts should be directed toward prevention. Various medicinal agents, such as carbolic acid administered subcutaneously and methylene blue fed in large quantities, have been recommended, but have failed to stand the tests of scientific investigation and practical use. Serums and vaccines have also been prepared and sold as cures and preventives, but the work is still considered in the experimental stage.

Bacterial vaccines are at present extensively used in the control of this disease, and while numerous reports indicate beneficial results from their administration, in other instances total failures have been recorded. It appears that the experiments in this line have not progressed sufficiently to justify definite conclusions.

The spread of the disease can be controlled to a great degree by the practice of sanitary measures directed toward the disinfection of premises and the isolation of animals at time of calving and aborting. For methods of disinfection of premises see page 363.

Make frequent observations of the animals of affected herds for symptoms of aborting, such as swelling of vulva or udder enlargement, and upon the discovery of an animal showing these symptoms place her immediately in a stall which is somewhat remote from healthy stock as a means of confining the products of abortion as much as possible should the act occur. If an animal aborts unexpectedly she should be removed to separate quarters and given proper attention as promptly as possible. The fetus, afterbirth, provided it has been expelled, and all litter that has been contaminated with them and uterine discharges should be gathered up and destroyed either by burning or burying. Clean and thoroughly disinfect the floor, gutters, and manger in the vicinity of the aborting animal.

Daily irrigations of the uterus with nonirritating antiseptic solutions, such as 0.5 per cent solution of cresol or compound solution of cresol, at body temperature have a tendency to prevent the multiplication of microorganisms in the uterus and in this way promote recovery. Douching of the uterus should be continued until the discharge ceases. In addition, the external genitals, root of the tail, escutcheon, etc., should be sponged daily with the antiseptic solution.

Aim to place all pregnant animals in disinfected individual pens or stalls a few days before they are expected to calve, and confine them to these quarters for three or four weeks following the delivery of the calf, or as long thereafter as uterine discharges are observed. Avoid carrying infection from the maternity stalls to other portions of stable, on shoes or otherwise. This may be prevented to some degree by the use of disinfectant solutions on shoes after the stalls have been entered or by wearing rubbers while in the maternity stalls, removing them after the isolated animals have been attended to. The isolation of cows at time of calving and the aborting animal is based upon the knowledge that the fetus, afterbirth, and uterine discharges of an affected animal at these times very frequently contain myriads of the abortion bacteria, and that unless these substances are confined and promptly destroyed an abundant opportunity is provided for the contamination of the food substances of the healthy animals and their contraction of the disease.

Refrain from breeding fresh cows for a period of six weeks to two months following calving. The aborting animal should be isolated for a period of six weeks to two months and under no consideration be permitted to mingle with the rest of the herd as long as uterine discharges are observed.

Douching of the external genitals of the bull, a practice formerly regarded as highly important for preventing the spread of the disease, is now recognized as being of doubtful value. The bull is protected from abortion infection to a great degree by permitting him to serve only such animals as have calved or aborted from six weeks to two months previously. Investigational work has indicated that when the bull is affected with the disease the organs of his generative system commonly involved are not reached by the antiseptic solutions. A more rational method for the prevention of the spread of the disease by the bull consists in keeping him in an inclosure separate from the females and in having all services take place on neutral ground.

Great care should be used in purchasing cattle, and cows not known to be free from the disease should be kept in separate quarters until this point is determined.

GRANULAR VENEREAL DISEASE (INFECTIOUS GRANULAR VAGINITIS).

The affection to which the foregoing names have been given is a chronic, mild, and apparently contagious disease of cattle, characterized by an inflammatory condition of the mucous membrane of the vagina and the development of nodules upon its surface.

This disease is very widely spread, but from an economic point of view it does not appear to have great significance. Williams, who investigated it, asserts that it is difficult to find a single herd in this country which is free of this disease. He considers it of great importance, claiming that granular vaginitis has a vital relation to abortion. This view, however, is not substantiated by other investigators, it being now generally accepted that the disease is only rarely responsible for abortion, and further, that it exerts no apparent ill effects on the health of the animal and that it has no effect on the milk yield.

_Symptoms._--Natural infection may take place either by direct contact of animals or at the time of service. Most of the cows in the affected herd contract the disease, but the bulls are rarely or very mildly affected. The inflamed condition of the membranes of the vagina results in a catarrhal exudate, and this discharge, which soils the external genitals and the tail, and the uneasiness and sometimes the straining of the animal, are the first and most prominent symptoms observed. Upon examination, small, hard, grayish nodules can be seen and felt upon the inflamed membranes. This acute stage may last for three or four weeks, then it gradually subsides and assumes the chronic form, only to flare up again as the animal comes in heat.

These nodules are sometimes found on the membranes of the uterus, and some investigators have argued from this fact that it was responsible for abortion and sterility. Others, however, deny this and point out that the bacillus of abortion can be demonstrated in nearly every case. The importance of the disease is therefore in dispute and the decision must be left to future investigation.

_Treatment._--The exaggerated importance which has been attached to this disease resulted in the exploitation of the most varied kinds of remedies for its treatment. It is true that with a protracted and laborious treatment it is possible to effect cures in from one to three months, but with our present knowledge of this disorder it is advisable to limit the treatment to animals which show an acute inflammatory condition of the vagina and vulva with a discharge as a result of the granular affection. The treatment should be local and confined to the application of antiseptic washes in the form of irrigations. For this purpose a 0.5 per cent solution of the compound solution of cresol or of Lugol's solution has been found satisfactory.

PARTURITION (CALVING).

SYMPTOMS OF CALVING.

In the cow the premonitions of calving are the enlargement of the udder, which becomes firm and resistant to the touch, with more or less swelling in front, and yields a serous, milky fluid; the enlargement and swelling of the vulva, which discharges an abundant, stringy mucus; the drooping of the belly, and the falling in of the muscles at each side of the root of the tail, so as to leave deep hollows. When this last symptom is seen, calving may be counted on in 24 hours or in 2 or 3 days. When the act is imminent, the cow becomes uneasy, moves restlessly, leaves off eating, in the field leaves the herd, lies down and rises again as if in pain, shifts upon her hind feet, moves the tail, and may bellow or moan. When labor pains come on the back is arched, the croup drooped, the belly is drawn up, and straining is more or less violent and continuous. Meanwhile blood may have appeared on the vulva and tail, and soon the clear water bags protrude between the lips of the vulva. They increase rapidly, hanging down toward the hocks, and the fore or hind feet can be detected within them. With the rupture of the bags and escape of the waters the womb contracts on the solid, angular body of the fetus and is at once stimulated to more violent contractions, so that the work proceeds with redoubled energy to the complete expulsion. This is why it is wrong to rupture the water bags if the presentation is normal, as they furnish a soft, uniform pressure for the preliminary dilation of the mouth of the womb and passages, in anticipation of the severe strain put upon them as the solid body of the calf passes.

The cow often calves standing, in which case the navel string is broken as the calf falls to the ground. If, however, she is recumbent, this cord is torn through as she rises. The afterpains come on 3 or 4 hours later and expel the membranes, which should never be left longer than 24 hours.

NATURAL PRESENTATION.

When there is but one calf the natural presentation is that of the fore feet with the front of the hoofs and knees turned upward toward the tail of the dam and the nose lying between the knees. (Pl. XV.) If there are twins the natural position of the second is that of the hind feet, the heels and hocks turned upward toward the cow's tail. (Pl. XVIII, fig. 1.) In both of these natural positions the curvature of the body of the calf--the back arched upward--is the same with the curvature of the passages, which descend anteriorly into the womb, ascend over the brim of the pelvis, and descend again toward the external opening (vulva). Any presentation differing from the above is abnormal.

OBSTACLES TO PARTURITION.

With a well-formed cow and calf and a natural presentation as above, calving is usually prompt and easy. Obstacles may, however, come from failure of the mouth of the womb to dilate; from twisting of the neck of the womb; from tumors in the vagina; from dropsy in the womb or abdomen; from overdistention of the rectum or bladder; from undue narrowing of the passages; from excess of fat in the walls of the pelvis; from the disturbance of a nervous cow by noises; from stone or urine in the bladder; from wrong presentation of the calf, its back being turned downward or to one side in place of upward toward the spine of the dam; from the bending backward of one or more limbs or of the head into the body of the womb; from presentation of the back, shoulder, or croup, all four limbs being turned back; from presentation of all four feet at once; from obstruction caused by an extra head or extra limbs, or double body on the part of the offspring (Pl. XIX); from dropsy or other disease of the calf; from excessive or imperfect development of the calf; from the impaction of twins into the passages at the same time; or at times it may be from the mere excessive volume of the fetus.

GENERAL MAXIMS FOR THE ASSISTANT CONCERNING DIFFICULT PARTURITION.

Do not interfere too soon. "Meddlesome midwifery is bad" with animals as with women. After labor pains set in, give a reasonable time for the water bags to protrude and burst spontaneously, and only interfere when delay suggests some mechanical obstruction. If there is no mechanical obstruction, let the calf be expelled slowly by the unaided efforts of the cow. Bruises and lacerations of the passages and flooding from the uncontracted womb may come from the too speedy extraction of the calf. When assistance is necessary, the operator should dress in a thick flannel shirt from which the sleeves have been cut off clear to the shoulders. This avoids danger of exposure and yet leaves the whole arm free and untrammeled. Before inserting the hand it and the arm should be smeared with oil, lard, or vaseline, care being taken that the oil or lard is fresh, neither salted nor rancid, and that it has been purified by boiling or rendered antiseptic by the addition of a teaspoonful of carbolic acid to the pound. This is a valuable precaution against infecting the cow by introducing putrid ferments into the passages and against poisoning of the arm by decomposing discharges in case the calving is unduly protracted. When labor pains have lasted some time without any signs of the water bags, the dropping in at the sides of the rump, and the other preparations for calving being accomplished, the hand should be introduced to examine. When the water bags have burst and neither feet nor head appear for some time, examination should be made. When one fore foot only and the head appear, or both fore feet without the head, or the head without the fore feet, examine. If one hind foot appears without the other, make examination. The presenting limb or head should be secured by a rope with a running noose, so that it may not pass back into the womb and get lost during the subsequent manipulations, but may be retained in the vagina or brought up again easily. In searching for a missing member it is usually better to turn the head of the cow downhill, so that the gravitation of the fetus and abdominal organs forward into the belly of the cow may give more room in which to bring up the missing limb or head. If the cow is lying down, turn her on the side opposite to that on which the limb is missing, so that there may be more room for bringing the latter up. Even if a missing limb is reached, it is vain to attempt to bring it up during a labor pain. Wait until the pain has ceased and attempt to straighten out the limb before the next pain comes on. If the pains are violent and continuous, they may be checked by pinching the back or by putting a tight surcingle around the body in front of the udder. These failing, 1 ounce or 1-1/2 ounces of chloral hydrate in a quart of water may be given to check the pains. If the passages have dried up or lost their natural, lubricating liquid, smear the interior of the passages and womb and the surface of the calf, so far as it can be reached, with pure fresh lard; or pure sweet oil may be run into the womb through a rubber tube (fountain syringe). In dragging upon the fetus apply strong traction only while the mother is straining, and drag downward toward the hocks as well as backward. The natural curvature of both fetus and passages is thus followed and the extraction rendered easier.

LABOR PAINS BEFORE RELAXATION OF THE PASSAGES.

Any of the various causes of abortion may bring on labor pains before the time. Straining comes on days or weeks before the time, and there is not the usual enlargement, swelling, and mucous discharge from the vulva. There is little or no falling in by the sides of the root of the tail; the abdomen has not dropped to the usual extent, and the udder is less developed and yields little or no milk. In spite of the pains no water bags appear, and the oiled hand cautiously introduced into the vagina finds the neck of the womb firmly closed, rigid, and undilatable. If it is known that the cow has not reached her proper time of calving, the examination through the vagina should be omitted and the animal should be placed in a dark, quiet place by herself, and be given 1 to 2 ounces laudanum. _Viburnum prunifolium_ (black haw), 1 ounce, may be added, if necessary, and repeated in three hours. The pains will usually subside.

In some instances the external parts are relaxed and duly prepared, but the neck of the womb remains rigidly closed. In such case the solid extract of belladonna should be smeared around the constricted opening and the animal left quiet until it relaxes.

DISEASED INDURATION OF THE MOUTH OF THE WOMB.

From previous lacerations or other injuries the neck of the womb may have become the seat of fibrous hardening and constriction, so as to prevent its dilatation, when all other parts are fully prepared for calving. The enlarged, flabby vulva, the sinking at each side of the rump, the full udder, and drooping abdomen indicate the proper time for calving, but the labor pains effect no progress in the dilatation of the mouth of the womb, and the oiled hand introduced detects the rigid, hard, and, in some cases, nodular feeling of the margins of the closed orifice which no application of belladonna or other antispasmodic suffices to relax. Sponge tents may be inserted or the mechanical dilator (Pl. XX, fig. 6) may be used if there is opening enough to admit it, and if not, a narrow-bladed, probe-pointed knife (Pl. XXIV, fig. 2) may be passed through the orifice and turned upward, downward, and to each side, cutting to a depth not exceeding a quarter of an inch in each case. This done, a finger may be inserted, then two, three, and four, and finally all four fingers and thumb brought together in the form of a cone and made to push in with rotary motion until the whole hand can be introduced. After this the labor pains will induce further dilation, and finally the presenting members of the calf will complete the process.

TWISTING OF THE NECK OF THE WOMB.

This is not very uncommon in the cow, the length of the body of the womb and the looseness of the broad ligaments that attach it to the walls of the pelvis favoring the twisting. It is as if one were to take a long sack rather loosely filled at the neck and turn over its closed end, so that its twisting should occur in the neck. The twist may be one-quarter round, so that the upper surface would come to look to one side, or it may be half round, so that what was the upper surface becomes the lower. The relation of the womb of the cow to the upper and right side of the paunch favors the twisting. The paunch occupies the whole left side of the abdomen and extends across its floor to the right side. Its upper surface thus forms an inclined plane, sloping from the left downward and to the right, and on this sloping surface lies the pregnant womb.

It is easy to see how, in the constant movements of the paunch upon its contents and the frequent changes of position of the growing fetus within the womb, to say nothing of the contractions of the adjacent bowels and the more or less active movements of the cow, the womb should roll downward to the right. Yet in many cases the twist is toward the left, showing that it is not the result of a simple rolling downward over the paunch, but rather of other disturbances. The condition may be suspected when labor pains have continued for some time without any sign of the water bags, and it is confirmed when the oiled hand, introduced through the vagina, finds the mouth of the womb soft and yielding, but furnished with internal folds running forward in a spiral manner. If the folds on the upper wall of the orifice run toward the right, the womb is twisted to the right; if, on the contrary, they turn toward the left, it indicates that the womb is turned over in that direction. The direction of the twist must be known before treatment can be undertaken. Then, if the twist is toward the right, the cow is laid upon her right side with her head downhill, the hand of the operator is introduced through the spirally constricted neck of the womb, and a limb or other portion of the body of the calf is seized and pressed firmly against the wall of the womb. Meanwhile two or three assistants roll the cow from her right side over on her back to her left side. The object is to hold the womb and calf still while the body of the cow rolls over. If successful, the twist is undone, its grasp on the wrist is slackened, and the water bags and calf press into the now open passage. If the first attempt does not succeed, it is to be repeated until success has been attained. If the spiral folds on the upper wall of the opening turn toward the left, the cow is laid on her left side and rolled over on her back and on to the right side, the hand being, as before, within the womb and holding the fetus, so that all may not rotate with the cow. In introducing the hand it will usually be found needful to perforate the membranes, so that a limb of the calf may be seized direct and firmly held. Among my occasional causes of failure with these cases have been, first, the previous death and decomposition of the fetus, leading to such overdistention of the womb that it could not be made to rotate within the abdomen, and, second, the occurrence of inflammation and an exudate on the twisted neck of the womb, which hindered it from untwisting.