358 . MATERNAL DVSTOKIA. 



But if the osis obliterated and tlie cervix cannot be found, then the 

 portion of the uterus which protrudes into the vagina must be incised, 

 and the fcetus removed by this artificial opening. With this object, 

 Hubert recommends a convex bistoury, the blade of which is covered to 

 within a few lines of its point. The instrument is to be directed to the 

 part where the os is supposed to be ; then the coats of the uterus are to 

 be carefully incised to a small extent — layer after layer, until the escape 

 of the liquor amnii announces that the foetal membranes are opened. 

 The small slit thus made is to be enlarged by a probe-pointed bistoury — 

 the enlargement being either crucial or T-shaped. Then the foetus is to 

 be extracted. 



Hubert has performed this operation once on a Sheep, and a shepherd 

 by his direction also performed it on another Sheep, and in both cases 

 the result was favorable for mother and offspring. 



The number of instances of atresia of the os uteri are extremely few, and Saint-Cyr 

 has only been able to mention three. These are as follows : 



1. Lecoq [Mem. de la Societe Veterinaire du Calvados et de la Manche, Nos. v., vi.), 

 called to attend upon a Cow in parturition, had much difficulty in finding the place where' 

 the cervix uteri should be, the os being only a slight depression without any opening. 

 The Cow could not calve, and Lecoq therefore decided to perform gastro-hykerotomy. 

 A living calf was extracted, but it was so weak that it died on the same night, and the 

 Cow also succumbed next day. Unfortunately, an autopsy could not be made. 



2. In 1844, Leconte {Mem. de la Societe Centrale de Med. Veterinaire, vol. v.) met with 

 a similar case to the last The Cow had been in labor for twelve hours, and on explor- 

 ing the vagina and uterus he felt a kind of " septum " which, examined in every way, 

 only offered a vestige of the os. " On the uterine wall of the vagina," he writes, " was 

 a kind of cervix, a sort of ring, hollow in its centre and similar to the mouth of a bottle. 

 The opening did not seem to be more than one-third to three-quarters of an inch in 

 depth, and about an inch in width, the bottom being closed by a solid membrane which 

 resisted every effort to force it. The fcetus could be distinctly felt through the walls of 

 the uterus, but no issue could be found for it except this rudimentary os. 



Vaginal hysterotomy was practised, and the fcetus was easily extracted ; but it was 

 dead, arid the Cow died in an hour and a half after the operation. Nothing is said as to 

 an autopsy having been made. « 



3. Hubert, a Belgian veterinary surgeon, has published three observations on this 

 condition {Annales de Med. Veterinaire de Br nx'elles, 1856, p. 143). The first refers to a 

 Mare, the other two to Sheep. Doubts are entertained, however, as to the correctness 

 of his diagnosis, and particularly with regard to the Mare, from the fact that this animal 

 gave birth to a living foal, and without operation, after violent and repeated straining. 



What is remarked as still more extraordinary, perhaps, is the statement that no un- 

 favorable results followed birth, and that in the succeeding year the Mare brought forth 

 another foal without any assistance. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Other Causes of Maternal Dystokia. 



There are some other causes of Dystokia which, though comparatively 

 rare, yet deserve attention from the Veterinary Obstetrist, and will com- 

 plete our notice of the maternal obstacles to parturition. These are : (i) 

 Anomalies of the placenta ; (2) Morbid adhesion between the fostus and 

 uterus; (3) Stricture of the uterus by external bands ; {^\) Persistent hymen ; 

 (5) Vaginal and vulvular atresia. 



Anomalies of the Placenta. 



We are but little acquainted with the morbid alterations of the foetal 

 membranes of animals, and of those changes which lead to the more or 



