488 



CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



1. Delivery is often followed by in- 



SUCCBBS. 



1. Delivery always terminates favor- 

 ably. 



2. A wound inflicted on the genital 

 organs is generally fatal. 



2. A wound of these organs rarely 

 causes death. 



3. Inversion of the womb is nearlj 

 always irremedial. 



3. Inversion of the uterus is often 

 curable. 



4. Mares nearly always succumb to 

 penetrating wounds of the abdomen 

 ■'uring parturition. 



4. This accident is generally not 

 fatal in cows. 



5. Delivery of the most simple kind 

 *s occasionally followed by bad results, 

 ^n abnormal and laborious parturitions 

 not infrequently mare and foal suc- 

 cumb. 



6. Difficult parturition proves a her- 

 culean task to the operator. 



5. Delivery, even in the most com- 

 plicated cases, generally proves com- 

 paratively easy, and obstetrical opera- 

 tions successful. 



6. Such parturitions are not of 

 much difficulty to a practitioner skilled 

 in the necessary operations. 



7. The duration of the life of the 

 foetus in a case of abnormal labor does 

 not extend beyond the fourth hour, on 

 account of the young animal having to 

 maintain its independent existence, as 

 if already born. 



7. Under the same circumstances the 

 calf may live four or five days in the 

 womb, as life is maintained by the 

 large number of placental attachments. 

 These differences are explained by the 

 mechanism of foetal life in the two 

 species of animals, as well as by the 

 anatomy of the uterus and foetal mem- 

 branes. 



8. The neck of the foal being very 

 long, the head is usually found deeply 

 buried in the flank whenever it is 

 turned backward. The operator has 

 very great difficulty in reaching the 

 head with his hand; indeed, it is often 

 impossible to bring it into its natural 

 position. The loop slips off the neck 

 of the lower jaw and has constantly to 

 be replaced; it is scarcely possible to 

 fix a cord there, this portion of the 

 jaw being so short, and the foetus 

 having no teeth. 



8. The neck of the foetus being 

 shorter and thicker, the head is less 

 twisted, and the operator can with 

 greater ease bring it back into its nor- 

 mal position; in addition there are 

 teeth in the lower jaw, the neck of 

 which is narrow, so that the slip-knot 

 does not leave it, and straightening of 

 the head and neck becomes an easy af- 

 fair. 



9. When once the amniotic fluid has 

 escaped, the introduction of the hand 

 is difficult, owing to the genital organs 

 becoming dry; this dryness causes an 

 efflux of blood to the mucous mem- 

 branes. The resistance made by the 

 foetal membranes to manipulation, 

 when made to ascertain either the po- 

 sition of the foetus, or for correcting 

 the position, together with the strug- 

 gles and violence of the mare, which 

 now and then drops as if dead, are all 

 difficulties to be overcome. 



9. The genital organs are continu- 

 ally lubricated by a mucous fluid, 

 which, while it facilitates the introduc- 

 tion of the hand, renders easy any 

 necessary correction of position, and 

 favors parturient operations. Besides, 

 any movement made is not, in gen- 

 eral, of much consequence. 



