476 FCETAL DYSTOKIA. 



the point of the hock is reached, this part usually jamming against the 

 brim of the pubis ; the hock is now raised,, and at the same time the 

 corresponding cord is pulled gently backward and slightly downward, so 

 as to bring the calcis into the vagina ; this operation is to be repeated on 

 the other limb, and then both feet are to be directed by the hand through 

 the canal. This being accomplished, the cords should then be pulled 

 upwards, so as to raise the croup and facilitate its entrance into the 

 inlet ; after which steady traction, proportioned to the amount of resist- 

 ance, should be employed during the labor-pains until the young creature 

 is completely extracted. 



Naylor ( Veterinarian, vol. xxxiii., p. 325) attended a Mare which could not foal. He 

 found the young creature lying on its back, with its hind-feet presented at the os uteri, 

 and its croup resting firmly against the maternal pubis. Small strong cords were placed 

 on the pasterns, the feet were brought into the passage, and by assistance and a little 

 manipulation, he succeeded in turning the foal back upwards, when it was soon and 

 easily extracted. No mention is made as to whether it was alive. 



LuMBO-iLiAL Positions. 



The lumbo-ilial positions — right and left — have been described at page 

 230. When simple, the hind-limbs — perfectly extended — first enter the 

 genital canal. Such positions are very rare, and they do not offer any 

 thing very noteworthy ; they are recognized in the same way as the lumbo- 

 pubic position, and the indications are the same. As a rule, parturition 

 in easier in these positions than in the lumbo-pubic, as only one haunch 

 is jammed against the brim of the pubis : the other, being in contact with 

 the mother's sacrum, can enter the inlet without much difficulty. 



Judicious traction on the hind pasterns is all that is needed after the 

 position has been rectified. 



SECTION II. — COMPLICATIONS CAUSED BY DEVIATION OF THE HIND-LIMBS. 



In the posterior presentation, the deviation of the hind-limbs is, in 

 many instances, a very serious complication. Instead of being extended 

 backwards into the passage, one or both may be bent at the fetlocks or 

 the hocks — the leg against the thigh, these joints presenting ; or the}^ 

 may be carried straight forward under the body, the buttocks alone rest- 

 ing against the inlet. So that, instead of a wedge-shaped mass offering 

 its thinnest portion to gradually dilate the genital canal, the foetus pre- 

 sents a large rounded mass — the croup and thighs — which is not at all 

 adapted for effecting a passage through the limited space. When to this 

 bulk is added the flexed portion of the limbs, it will be seen that this 

 cause of dystokia, generally most formidable in all cases, must be more 

 so with primiparai, and especially if some time has been allowed to elapse 

 since the commencement of parturition, if the " waters "' have escaped, 

 and if amateurs and empirics have been interfering. With regard to this 

 interference, however, it must be admitted that it is less to be dreaded in 

 this presentation than perhaps in any other; incompetent people are, 

 fortunately, at a loss how to act, as there is nothing to lay hold of, and 

 the nature of the malposition or the manner of remedying it is obscure, 

 perhaps unknown to them. 



In the diverse complicated positions of the posterior limbs in this pre- 

 sentation, it may be remarked that they are more frequent and difficult 

 in the Mare than in the Cow — the increased difficulty being doubtless 

 due to the greater length of the limbs in the foal than the calf. 



