CHAPTER X. 

 HOLDING A POST-MORTEM. 



The stockman or his veterinarian will sometimes have 

 animals die upon their hands, and as it is not always 

 desirable to incur extra expense, the stockman will be the 

 one to examine the dead animal, or hold a post-mortem, 

 as it is termed. 



To be of any value a post-mortem should be held within 

 a few hours after death, as destructive changes soon take 

 place in dead animals; if properly conducted and care- 

 ful note made of the conditions found, a post-mortem 

 may be of considerable value to science and a source of 

 satisfaction to the owner. * 



The necessary instruments are a good butcher knife 

 and a saw; along with these there should be a few quarts 

 of good antiseptic in solution, so that the person holding 

 the post-mortem can cleanse his hands and arms fre- 

 quently, the latter precaution should on no account be 

 neglected, especially in cases where the cause of death 

 is unknown. The animal maybe examined in one of 

 two positions, (1) when lying on the back, or (2) on the side, 

 if the former it will need to be propped up, the front 

 legs being allowed to drop to each side by cutting the 

 muscles in the armpits. An incision is then made with 

 the knife, right along the middle line of the belly, care 

 being taken to avoid cutting any of the bowels; that 

 done the knife is made to cut from the flank nearly to 

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