ckles are felt to be struck by a solid body, which
is no other than the fetus that has been displaced to the left by the push
of the hand, and now floats back in its liquid covering (amniotic fluid;
see Pl. XII) downward and to the right.

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, ar