ABORTION. The casting of young before the natural time. In veterinary practice, abort ing is the slipping, slinking, miscarriage or ex pulsion of the fcetus at so early a period as to render continued life impossible. The causes are numerous, principal among which are want of proper sustenance, undue feeding, sudden frights, accidents from falls and bruises, over ex ertion, artd particularly, in large stables, the odor and diseased condition of animals which abort, so that often in stables where many cows are kept it will infect the entire herd. Of late years it has become one of the most serious disabilities in large dairy stables. The signs of approaching abortion are uneasiness, languor, restlessness, sudden filling of the udder, and often a bloody discharge. At the first symptoms the animals so affected should be immediately removed, and the whole stable completely disinfected. The pre ventive,s are regular care and feeding, and ab solute cleanliness. One peculiarity of this dis ability is that animals, aborting once, are liable to a recurrence at about the same period, when again gravid. Great care is therefore necessary with such animals during the period when it may again be looked for. One superinducing cause of abortion in large dairies is thought to be de generation from over service of the bull. In stances are recorded when abortion has ceased, upon a change to u mature, vigorous bull, who was restricted to one service a day during the coupling season ; and it is a notable fact that in small dairies of not over a dozen cows, abortion is rare. Another prolific cause is, eonfined, hot stables where many cows are kept. The remedy here would be, as we have said, perfect cleanli ness, and perfect ventilation as well. Many of the causes of abortion seem obscure, yet the following may be taken as being pretty well settled: The prevalence of abortion is not pro portionate to the relative extent of butter and cheese production in the afflicted districts. It is not more prevalent among good milkers than among ordinary milkers. It is not more common in first pregnancies than in subsequent ones. It happens most frequently in the sixth, the seventh, or the eighth month of pregnancy, and in the month of Deeemher, January or February. In all probability it is not due to exposure to cold, or to insufficient stabling of any kind. It is not more prevalent among cows impregnated at the age of one year or eighteen months than among those impregnated at a later period. It is more frequent among cows which have been impreg nated by two or three year old bulls than among those impregnated by yearling bulls. It is not due to inflammation of the uterus, nor to any marked change in the generative organs except a stoppage of the circulation and an arrest of de velopment. It is probably not owing to any de fect in the original form of the foetus. Abort ing cows are more liable to miscarry the follow ing year than those which have never been af fected. The early separation of the calf front the cow does not seem to have any injurious influ ence in producing subsequent abortions. Abor tion is a disease which is extremely local in char acter, and confined for the most part to particu lar farms. The large majority of farms, even in the affected distriets, are free from the disease, while upon a few farms the percentage of abor tion is high, and the disease destruetive in its effects. Farms affected, and those unaffected, , often lie in close proximity, with no marked dif ferenee in physical situation, or in the treatment which the cattle receive, to account for the dif ference in the prevalence of abortion. It is prob able that abortion is, in many instanees, imported into the affected farm by cows, purchased while with calf, corning from infected distriets, or even from localities where the disease is not known to exist. Ahortion is caused by a number of natur
al causes: pampering with high feed in hot stables; smutty grain and hay is especially a pre disposing cause ; violent usage, as blows on the belly, slipping in the stall or on frozen ground; teasing by the bull; purging, or condiments, are also predisposing causes. It is, of late years, epidemic, or more probably endemic as confined generally to large stables, and, probably also gen erated there; and, once a cow is attacked, sym pathy may cause it to spread; also if the animal be not removed, and the stable thoroughly fumi gated, it may spread by means of the minute germs always given off in all cases of disorgan ization, and thus in extreme cases it may be car ried to other stables; hence the neeessity once it is found, that the greatest care be taken in isolat ing affected-animals. Indeed it is better that a cow that has once aborted, be fattened and killed, since at the recurrence of the same period of car rying the young, the cow will again be liable to abort. To one who has inhaled the peculiar odor of a stable where there are aborting cows, it will at once be apparent that the utmost pains should be taken to thoroughly fumigate the stable, and also, where gravid cows are stabled, that the building be kept free from foul odors of every kind, since cattle are apparently more annoyed by these than any other of our farm animals. Thus, also, every person in buying cows, should receive a g-uarantee, if possible, that she has never aborted; even then she should be carefully watched for symptoms up to the seventh month of carrying the fcetus. The first symptoms are : The animal will lose appetite ; the cow will par tially or altogether cease to chew the cud; her milk will diminish; she will be listless and dull, inclined to lie down, and, upon being moved about, will show weakness, and perhaps will stagger. If she seems restless, refuses her food, or if she paws the ground, rcsts her head on the manger, and especially if thdre be a diseharge of whitish glairy fluid from the vagina; if the belly seem less round, somewhat enlarged, or in any way altered in shape, remove her to other and distant quarters at once. As the symptoms pro gress, the animal shows more and more distress, she moans, and at length the pains of labor re lieve her of the load, often in a putrid and even decomposed condition. Once certain that the fcetus is dead, delivery should be accomplished as quickly as possible. The water bag (the pouch in which the foetus is contained), if not broken, should be so; then proceed to remove the after birth as directed in the article After-birth, using plenty of time and operating in the most gentle manner. Sprinkle the fcetus and all that comes away from the cow with carbolic acid or chloride of lime, or bury it deeply, covering it with quick lime, or sprinkle it with carbolic acid. The va gina of the cow should be cleansed, by being syringed with chloride of lime as directed in the article After-birth, the stable thoroughly cleansed, the animal carefully littered and tended, and when all foul odor has ceased from the va gina, the stable must be effectually fumigated. (See article Fumigation.) The cow having re covered, she should not be allowed to take the bull the same season, or at least for several months; and, in no case, with any cow, should a bull be allowed to serve, who is not in full vigor. There is no doubt the service of exhausted male animals is among the potent causes of abortion: hence the necessity that such males be vigorous, The treatment of the cow during recovery may be identical with that described in the article After-birth.