D YSTOKIA FROM TRA NS VERSE, PRESENT A TIONS. 49 1 



rist to rectify. The gravity of the case will, however, much depend upon 

 the period when the veterinary surgeon is called in, and the condition of' 

 the parturient animal. When sufficiently early in his attendance, however, 

 a favorable result may often, if not always, be anticipated : the mother 

 may be saved, anfl frequently the offspring — particularly in the Cow and 

 Goat. 



This favorable issue is due to the fact, that the presentation does not 

 admit of the foetus entering the inlet, and it therefore remains in the ab- 

 dominal cavity, where there is space to manipulate it, and thus remedy 

 the presentation. The obstetrist, though he may have to contend with 

 the paralyzing and fatiguing uterine contractions, has not to overcome the 

 wedging of the foetus in the pelvic canal — so common in the defective 

 anterior or posterior presentations. 



Fig. 141. 

 Transverse Presentation : Vertical or Cephalo-sacral Position. 



Indications. 



The principal indication in such cases is to convert the dorsal into an 

 anterior or posterior presentation, according to circumstances. Hippoc- 

 rates has well said, that the foetus is like a cork which has fallen into a 

 bottle, and which can only be extracted by one end or the other. 



Certainly, the presentation offers serious difficulties, from the fact that 

 there is nothing about the foetus to lay hold of advantageously, or to 

 which cords could be attached. In the majority of instances, a long 

 interval has elapsed since parturition began ; the " waters " have escaped, ' 

 the genital canal is swollen and congested from the attempts of amateurs 

 at delivery, the interior of the uterus is dry and adhesive, the organ lies 

 as close to the foetus as a glove does to the hand, and the parent is ex- 

 hausted with unavailing straining, and perhaps maltreatment ; though the 

 most trifling manipulation in the uterus will excite it to the most vigorous 

 contractions. 



It is, ordinarily, in these circumstances that the veterinary surgeon is 

 required to save mother and offspring. What, then, is the first, most 

 urgent, and indeed the chief indication ? This must be version. The 



