386 FCETAL DYSTOKIA. 



and head of the foetus — a cranium of such monstrous size had scarcely ever been seen 

 before. The foetus altogether was small and emaciated, but the enormous head was 

 larger on the right side then on the left. On the slightest displacement, the fluctuation 

 of the contained fluid could be both seen and felt. 



Macgillivray {Veterinary yournal, January, 1877) attended a Cow which had been 

 showing symptoms of calving for some hours, the waters having escaped, etc. He 

 found parturition further advanced then was expected, for a pair of feet were protruding 

 from the vulva. Observing that the soles of the two feet were shown uppermost, he 

 concluded that it was a hind-leg presentation, or something worse. It proyed to be a 

 hind-quarter presentation, and very slight traction sufficed to bring away the foetus as 

 far as the fore-quarters, but there it came to a complete standstill. He introduced his 

 arm into the passage, expecting to find a fore-leg turned back ; but could discover no 

 such obstacle — his hand slipping quite easily all round the body of the foetus. He now 

 attached cords to the hind-legs above the fetlocks, and with the assistance of five or six 

 people drew away a living foetus. The cranium was of an immense size, and precisely 

 similar in shape to Fig. 78. 



What rendered the extraction of the foetus so difficult, and the case so uncommon, 

 interestingj- and complicated, was that one of the fore-legs passed right over the top of 

 the, enlarged cranium (from occiput to muzzle), and was. in fact, partially imbedded in 

 a groove during its whole course along the abnormally large foetal cranium. This mal- 

 positioned leg must have been there for months, as the bones of the cranium were quite 

 firm and unyielding ; and the erratic leg persisted in keeping its cranial \>o?h\!\o\\ even 

 after delivery. This malpostured foetal monster remained alive for a few minutes only ; 

 which the farmer's wife thought a very lucky cfrcumstance, as she was just asking him to 

 make away with it when it went away of itself ! 



Every case, however, does not terminate successfully. 



Olver ( Veterinarian, vol. xlvii., p. 481), in a case of difficult parturition in a cart Mare, 

 found, on examination /^r t/(2^/«a;«, the fore limbs of the foal in the passage, with the 

 head turned back out of reach. The presenting limbs being detached from the body of 

 the foetus, an enormously enlarged head was discovered, the enlargement being surmised 

 to be due to hydrocephalus. Attempts were made to puncture the cranium, but unsuc- 

 cessfully — though the reason for the failure is not stated ; consequently the Mare was 

 killed. We have given the dimensions of the cranium at p. 382. 



Ascites, Anasarca and Hydrothorax. 



" Ascites " (fluid in the abdominal cavity) and " Anasarca" (fluid be- 

 neath the skin), either partial or complete, do not appear to be such fre- 

 quent diseases of the foetus as hydrocephalus. The cases recorded are 

 comparatively few. 



Anasarca has been observed in the foal, calf, and kid, and ascites 

 chiefly in the calf. These pathological conditions have generally been 

 confounded. 



With regard to ascites, it appears that in all the recorded observations, 

 the foetus was in what we have designated the " natural presentation and 

 position ; " though twice these were complicated : the head being turned 

 back on the left side in one, and in the other all the limbs presented with 

 the head, the left fore-limb being contracted. 



Sometimes the foetus has ceased to live before the full period of preg- 

 nancy has expired, and is expelled from the uterus ; at other times it 

 reaches maturity, and living through a few of the early pains, it succumbs 

 before parturition is completed, either from the effects of protracted la- 

 bor or from the manoeuvres adopted to extract it. None appear to have 

 been born alive ; nor would they be likely to live if by chance they were 

 extracted before death seized them. In addition to the abdominal cavity, 

 the scrotum is often enormously enlarged through its communication with 

 the latter, of which it is only a kind of diverticulum. Hydrothorax is 

 often combined with ascites. 



