202 DR. LEGEAR'S STOCK BOOK. 



may show slight uneasiness and abdominal pain for a day or two 

 before foaling. 



\ A riHAL PRESENTATIONS. 



As a rule, foaling is easily and quickly done in the marc, n 

 requiring usually not more than ten or twenty minutes. If labor 

 is continued any length of time the colt iiMially dies; while witn 

 the eow it may last one or two days and the calf live. When the 

 time comes she becomes uneasy, getting up and down frequently. 

 Presently true labor pains begin, the womb contracts on its con- 

 tents, assisted by the diaphram and abdominal muscles: and the 

 whole body becomes convulsed with the effort. The mouth of 

 the womb becomes dilated, and the water bag appears and bin-Ms. 

 and a few efforts forces it out. If the head of the unborn is cov- 

 ered with membranes, they should be removd at once, and if the 

 cord is large and strong it should be tied with a string about 

 three inches from the navel and then cut oil' an inch below that. 

 If the cord breaks off close and there is a leakage from the nav-'l 

 it should be sewed up as soon as possible. 



The natural presentation is for the front feet to come lirM. 

 with the head on top of or between the knees, as seen in Figure 



1, Plate. IV., or the hind feet may come first, as in Figure 



2, Plate IV. In some cases the mouth of the womb is rigid and 

 doesn't open sufficiently to allow the passage of the foal. In 

 such cases it may be dilated by the hand or by smearing the parts 

 wit-h extract of belladonna. 



rNNATl'RAL I'KKSKNTATIONS. 



There are a great many unnatural presentations, and it will 

 take too much space to describe them all here: therefore we will 

 try and make plain a few of the more common ones. Considering 

 the immense number of mares in a breeding district that will 



