DYSTOKIA DEPENDING ON ANTERIOR PRESENTATION 



469 



affairs ; indeed, in all cases of dystokia it cannot be too often impressed 

 on the mind of the young practitioner, that a careful examination is ab- 

 solutely essential before attempting extraction. 



In this particular form of dystokia, the life of the mother may be pre- 

 served by timely and rational intervention ; while violent and irrational 

 interference, even at the earliest period, will undoubtedly be followed by 

 serious, if not fatal, consequences. 



With regard to preserving the foetus, the prognosis must generally be 

 unfavorable. The foal is, in every case perhaps, certain to perish at an 

 early period ; and though the calf is more tenacious of life, and may con- 

 tinue to exist for some time, yet in the majority of cases it succumbs, or 

 it has to be sacrificed to save the mother. 



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Fig. 131. 

 Hind-limb Deviation : Anterior Presentation. 



Indications. 



In nearly every case the preservation of the mother is the first object 

 [to be attained, the life of the foetus — if it be yet alive when the veterinary 

 ^surgeon is called in — being quite a secondary consideration ; though it 

 jmust be admitted that if he is present when it is still vigorous and not 

 imuch engaged in the pelvic cavity, there is no reason why it should not 

 ^be extracted alive. The indication is, of course, to rectify the deviation 

 ^of the hind-limbs ; and if the foetus is not too far advanced in the gen- 

 ital canal, this may be accomplished by pushing it, if need be, towards 

 I the uterus, and introducing the hand between it and the wall of the 

 vagina (often a most difficult matter), to carry the hind-feet back — one 

 after another — into the uterine cavity, either by the hand or the aid of 

 the repeller ; then the head and fore-limbs being in a good position, birth 

 can readily be effected. In this manner Carsten, Harms has extracted a 

 foal. And when the front part of the foetus has not advanced into the 

 pelvis, and the deviation has been ascertained in good time, the anterior 



1 



