190 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



curvature of the fetus, the hoofs are suddenly forced through the 

 roof of the vagina, and, perhaps, the rectum as well, during a spe- 

 cially powerful labor pain. 



When the back of the calf is turned to the right side or the left the 

 main difference is that in addition to straightening the limbs the fetus 

 must be rotated to turn its back upward before extraction is at- 

 tempted. In this case, too, it may be difficult to bring up and 

 straighten the lower of the two limbs until the body has been rotated 

 into its proper position. Cord the upper straightened limb and head, 

 then rotate the body and search for the second missing limb. 



Fore limbs hcnt hack from the shoulders. — This is an exaggeration 

 of the condition just named, and is much more difficult to remedy, 

 owing to the distance and inaccessibility of the missing limb. It 

 usually happens with the proper position of the bod}^ the back of the 

 calf being turned toward the back of the mother. The head presents 

 in the passage and may even protrude from the vulva during an 

 tictive labor pain, but it starts back like a spring when the straining 

 ceases. Examination with the oiled hands in the intervals between 

 the pains fails to detect the missing limbs. (PI. XVI, fig. 1.) If, 

 however, the hand can be introduced during a pain it may be possible 

 to reach the elbow or upper part of the forearm. In the absence of a 

 pain a halter or noose on the head may be used to advance the whole 

 body until the forearm can be seized just below the elbow. This 

 being firmly held and the head or body pushed back into the womb, 

 room may be obtained for bringing up the knee. The forearm is 

 used as a lever, its upper part being strongly forced back while its 

 lower part is pressed forward. If a pain supervenes the hold must 

 be retained, and whatever gain has been made must be held if pos- 

 sible. Then during the next pain, by pushing back the body and con- 

 tinuing to operate the forearm as a lever, a still further advance may 

 be made. As the knee is brought up in this way, the hand is slid 

 down from the elbow toward the knee, which is finally brought up 

 over the brim of the pelvis and into the passage. It is now corded 

 at the knee, and the subsequent procedure is as described in the last 

 article. In a large, roomy cow with a small calf the latter may pass 

 with one or both forelegs bent back, but this is a very exceptional 

 case, and, as early assistance is the most successful, there should never 

 be delay in hope of such a result. 



One fore limJ) crossed over the hack of the necl'. — This is a rare 

 obstacle to calving, but one that not altogether unknown. The hand 

 introduced into the passage feels the head and one forefoot, and 

 farther back on the same side of the other foot, from which the womb 

 can be traced obliquely across the back of the neck. (PI. XVI, 

 fig. 3.) This foot, projecting transversely, is liable to bruise or tear 

 the vagina. If still deeply engaged in the vagina, it may be seized 



