form of the passage, I was able to
return the womb, and met with little obstruction. Up to this
point I had succeeded better than at first I hoped; but here
came the difficulty. The uterus was replaced, but how was it
to be retained? The irritability of the system would have a
natural tendency to reject the viscus, and the lotion I had
used was not of a soothing quality. To render the case more
desperate, there was the knowledge of the temperament and
habits of the animal--its manner of sitting--its mode of
curving the spine to void its faeces--the marked excitability
of its generative organs--and its peculiar sensitiveness to
suffering.

"To own the truth, I had done so much more than, seeing the
hardened and lacerated condition of the parts, I had in the
first instance anticipated was possible, that I was not
exactly prepared for my good fortune. I remained for some
time thinking--and, really puzzled, requested those present
not to speak. I wanted some combination of medicine which I
could not satisfactorily procure. A sedative to the general
system was required, but not one that should depress; as,
after operations of this description, the vital powers are
disposed to sink, and therefore generally require to be
stimulated. I moreover wanted an excitant to the uterus.
Many things were hastily thought of, and as quickly
rejected; and, in my difficulty, I was at last obliged to
ask advice of those about me. A bandage or harness to pass
over the parts was suggested; but the almost impossibility
of fixing it properly, and the mischievous ingenuity the dog
exhibits with its teeth, rendered this plan obviously
inappropriate. One person proposed to adopt the
custom--sometimes, I am sorry to say, followed by
cow-leeches--of passing stitches through the labia. The
brutal and unjustifiable practice was of course rejected,
and, I trust, by the members of the veterinary profession,
it is never embraced.

"Fairly at my wits' end, I suddenly determined to try how
the injection of cold water into the uterus would act. I
knew of no case in which this agent had been employed, and
could not feel confidence concerning the consequences of the
experiment; but, in despair, I resolved to hazard it. A
quantity fresh from the pump was therefore obtained, and it
was thrown up,