486 FCETAL DYSTOKIA. 



To escape the dangers which accompany the use of the crotchets in 

 this way, another method has been proposed and practised by many vet- 

 erinary obstetrists. The perineal region of the foetus is largely incised, 

 and the hand, armed with a crotchet, is passed into the pelvis by this 

 opening, the crotchet being fixed either in front of the symphysis pubis, 

 on one of the branches of the ilium, or, which is perhaps better, in one of 

 the oval foramina. Two crotchets — one for each side — may be used. By 

 this method, a more solid hold is obtained, and greater force can be easily 

 exerted. 



Cartwright observes : " In those cases in which we are unable to ex- 

 tract by the breech, through not getting the legs up straight by laying 

 hold of the feet, or when bent at the hocks, we should make pretty free 

 incisions through the skin about the ilio-femoral articulations or rump, 

 and afterwards cut or tear the muscles around these asunder, and then we 

 can secure cords around the iliac processes and coccygeal bones, and 

 hooks against the edge of the obturator foramen, by which means we can 

 remove the pelvic and coccygeal bones ; and having done so, we can ap- 

 ply a cord around the head of the thigh-bones and pull them out. We 

 must next make an incision into the abdomen and remove the viscera, 

 as they are sometimes pushed forward, and prevent our removing the 

 other parts of the foetus. Then we must either pass cords around the 

 skin that surrounds the thigh, or insert hooks into the skin, and draw the 

 remainder of the foetus out with its hind-legs under its belly, and so com- 

 plete extraction." 



Rueff proposes to detach the coxae from the sacrum, by operating in the 

 pelvis of the foetus, and afterwards to extract the hind-limbs thus sepa- 

 rated from the trunk. Others recommend symphyseotomy — an operation 

 to be described hereafter. 



When the foetus is in the lumbo-pubic position, the same obstacles are 

 encountered. Very often the hind-limbs are bent at the hocks, and these 

 wedge against the floor of the sacrum. The same order of manoeuvres 

 has to be adopted. Retropulsion allows space to flex the upper joints, 

 then extend the limbs. When extraction cannot be accomplished with 

 the animal in a standing attitude, it should be placed on its back. When 

 success does not attend the ordinary manipulations, then the hind-limbs 

 of the foetus must be disarticulated at the hocks, or higher. 



In all manoeuvres of this kind, great care must be exercised in pre- 

 venting injury to the maternal organs by the feet of the young creature, 

 or the jagged ends of bones ; and while traction is being employed, the 

 hand of the operator should be busy guiding the parts through the genital 

 passage. 



The smaller animals — Bitch, Sow, Ewe — may be delivered by the for- 

 ceps, small crotchet, or the tube-noose, to be hereafter described. The 

 Caesarean section may also, in extreme cases, be resorted to with the 

 Bitch and Sow. 



I. Cartwright [Lecture on ^'' Veterinary Obstctricy ") v/Z-S called to attend a Cow in 

 parturition. It was a breech presentation, but the os uteri was only partially dilated, 

 though by gentle manipulation it became tolerably widened. After much labor one 

 hind-leg was raised, but for a long time the other could not be found. At length it was 

 discovered, and, through great exertion, brought into its proper position and the calf ex- 

 tracted. In the course of the day the Cow died. The difficulty in this case was due to 

 the fact that the main bulk of the foetus lay in the body of the uterus, while one of the 

 hind-legs lay fully extended in one of the uterine cornua, the opening into which was not 



