MONSTROSITIES. 



421 



and then the hand encounters a confused, soft, floating mass of viscera, 

 the nature of which is not easily ascertained. However, the/^<?/ of the 

 intestines should lead to a suspicion of the case, while the twisted spine, 

 deformed pelvis, and general distortion, ought to lead to a diagnosis. In 

 some cases the exposed heart can be seized by the hand, and if the foetus 

 is alive the contractions of this organ will be distinctly perceptible. 



Prognosis. 



The prognosis in these cases of dystokia will greatly depend upon the 

 distortion and size of the foetus, as well as upon its position. In thirty- 

 nine observations collected by Franck, twenty-eight — or seventy-two per 

 cent. — of these monstrosities were born without injury to the mother, and 

 a number of them without assistance ; the remaining eleven Cows had to 

 be slaughtered. In thirty-two instances, twenty-eight — or ninety-three per 

 cent. — of the foetuses presented by the abdomen ; only four cases — thir- 

 teen per cent. — presented anteriorly, with the head and all the feet towards 



Fig- 104. 



Celosomian Monstosity: Lamb. 



I, Hind Foot ; 2, Fore Feet ; 3, Tail ; 4, Tongue ; 5, Elbow of Left Fore Limb ; 6, Stifle ; 7, 

 Ribs everted ; 8, Viscera. 



the genital canal. The latter were the most serious, as in three of them 

 the Cows died. Of the twenty-eight abdominal or visceral presentations, 

 twenty-three births took place without permanent injury to the mothers, 

 the other five being killed. One was delivered by the CjEsarean section. 

 In some of the cases in which birth occurred without assistance, the 

 young creature was born alive. 



Extraction. 



As we have seen, the prognosis in the large majority of cases is favor- 

 able, and particularly when the presentation is abdominal. Here careful 

 manipulation will effect delivery, and often the only mutilation necessary 

 is the removal of the fcetal viscera. These being got rid of, hand or cord 

 traction made on the most convenient parts, or the insertion of a hook 

 behind the spine into the pelvis, or any other likely and accessible part, 

 with gradual pulling, delivery will be effected ; if not, the vertebrae should 

 be divided. 



But when the head and all the feet present, then the case is much more 

 serious. If the foetus is only moderately developed, even in this position 

 it has been removed by traction. But in nearly all these cases embry- 

 otomy must be adopted. ' Some practitioners have succeeded in extracting 



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