CATTLE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



163 



possible to the fetlock. With the exer- 

 tion of considerable force, the calf may 

 now be extracted, and sometimes without 

 serious injury. 



By studying these cases the operator 

 will be enabled to adapt his measures to 

 every case of false presentation ; and they 

 .are numerous. Great force must some- 

 times be used to effect the extraction of 

 the calf. The united efforts of five or 

 six men have been employed, and (al- 

 though such practice can scarcely be de- 

 fended in any case), a horse has some- 

 times been attached to the cords. The 

 fcetus has been necessarily destroyed, but 

 the mother has survived : too often, how- 

 ever, she has evidently fallen a victim to 

 this unnecessary violence. If by the 

 united force of two or three men the 

 foetus cannot be brought away, any ruder 

 and more violent attempt must always 

 be fraught with danger, and will often be 

 fatal. The safer way for the mother — 

 yet that is attended with considerable 

 risk — is to cut off some of the limbs of 

 the fcetus. One or possibly both shoul- 

 ders may be separated, slipped, and then 

 the head and trunk may, without much 

 difficulty, be brought away. The knife 

 must be one that can be concealed in the 

 hand, and that is hooked at the end, and 

 rounded and thick at the back; but, not- 

 withstanding that, there is much danger 

 of wounding the womb, which is forci- 

 bly pressing on the hand of the operator. 



Labor is not unfrequently prevented by 

 the diseased state of the entrance or neck 

 of the womb, which becomes hard and 

 scirrhus, and thus prevents the calf from 

 escaping. When this is found by exami- 

 nation to be the case, an operation should 

 be performed, which consists in dividing 

 the contracted entrance by means of a 

 small knife passed up, protected by the 

 hand and ringers. Considerable care 

 must be exercised so as not to cut too 

 deeply ; and it is better to divide the stric- 

 ture "ghtly in several places. 



From the violent efforts of the cow, or 

 from unnecessary artificial violence, the 

 uterus, the calf-bed, may protrude, and be 

 absolutely inverted. The case is not des- 

 perate. The part must be cleaned from 

 blood and dirt, and supported by a sheet; 

 then, the operator beginning at the very 

 fundus or bottom of the womb, it may be 

 gradually returned by the union of some 



little ingenuity and a great deal of pa- 

 tience. The animal should be copiously 

 bled before this is attempted, in order to 

 relax the passage ; and the application of 

 cold water for a considerable time may 

 contract the womb itself, and render its 

 return more easy. A stitch or a couple of 

 stitches should be passed through the lips 

 of the shape, in order to prevent a repe- 

 tition of the protrusion, and the Anodyne 

 Drink (See No. 29 Domestic Animals, 

 Medicines for,) administered. 



If the cow has calved unseen and un- 

 attended, she will, like every other quad- 

 ruped, set diligently to work to devour 

 the cleansing, and lick the new-born ani- 

 mal clean. This, however, is often care- 

 fully prevented when there is the oppor- 

 tunity of so doing. The calf is taken 

 immediately away, and the cleansing 

 thrown on the dung-heap. We act con- 

 trary to nature in this. She would not 

 have given to herbivorous animals this 

 propensity to eat the placenta, had not 

 some useful purpose been effected by it. 

 Cleanliness was one object, the next was 

 either to support the strength of the ani- 

 mal, or to have an aperient or salutary in- 

 fluence on her. The mother and the young 

 will be happier if they are left to pursue 

 the dictates of nature. Many a cow has 

 fretted herself into a fatal fever from the 

 sudden loss of her little one, and many 

 a calf has died from the neglect of that 

 cleanliness which the mother could best 

 effect. 



A great deal has been said of the ne- 

 cessity of cleansing the cow after calving, 

 or the removal or expulsion of the pla- 

 centa. There is much error in this. The 

 placenta comes away with the calf; and 

 it is that natural discharge from the womb, 

 continued during several days, and which 

 is observed to a greater or less extent in 

 all quadrupeds, that gives the notion of 

 anything being retained. Medicine, never- 

 theless, is necessary in order to prevent 

 that access of fever to which the cow in 

 high condition is liable ; but that medi- 

 cine should be administered, not in the 

 form of a stimulating cordial, from the 

 false supposition that the animal wants 

 support after the fatigue and pain it has 

 undergone, but in that of a purgative, in 

 order to prevent an attack of fever to 

 which the animal is so naturally exposed 

 after parturition, and which is so often 



