MECHA NIC A L EXTRA CTION OF THE FCE TUS. 5 o i 



omy. In all these operations the obstetrist requires the aid of assistants, 

 who only too often have to be instructed in the part they are called upon 

 to perform, at the very moment their services are required. 



CHAPTER I. 

 Mechanical Means for the Extraction of the Foetus, 



Mechanical means for the extraction of tfhe foetus are required when 

 the expulsive efforts of the parent, and perhaps the hands of the obstet- 

 rist, are insufficient to produce delivery. These means have for their 

 object the application to the foetus of extractive force sufficient to over- 

 come the resistance offered by the obstacle to birth ; they comprise a 

 number of articles, the chief of which are cords, crotchets {hooks), and for- 

 ceps of various kinds. The uses and advantages of these we will now no- 

 tice. But before doing this, we must again point out the great advantage, 

 should the " waters " have escaped, and the genital canal and interior of 

 the uterus be dry and tenacious, of moistening these parts well before re- 

 sorting to the mechanical means. Tepid emollient fluids, such as oil, 

 glycerine and water, bran water, soap and water, or ev^en water alone, 

 should be plentifully introduced, either by a syringe, a simple tun-dish or 

 funnel to which a long piece of india-rubber or leather tubing is attached, 

 or a bladder tied to a tube. A stomach pump, or the common enema 

 syringe, the pipe of which is attached to a piece of tubing, the other end 

 of the latter being tied to the body of the instrument, enables the operator 

 to carry the water, or lubricating fluid, into the uterus and around the 

 body of the foetus. By raising the hind quarters of the animal sufficiently 

 high, the fluid gravitates to the interior of the cavity. With the Bitch 

 and other small animals, a tepid bath, as well as injections, may be re- 

 sorted to. 



Cords and Bands. 



Cords and bands are, of all mechanical means, the most useful in veter- 

 inary obstetricy, and are more to the animal obstetrist than the forceps 

 are to the human obstetrist. They have the additional advantage that 

 they are readily procurable everywhere, are cheap, very portable, and can 

 be employed where and when other means are inapplicable. Owing to 

 their pliability, they can be pulled in any direction desirable, without 

 much danger of injury to the maternal organs. In all cases of difficult 

 parturition, it is an axiom with the experienced veterinary obstetrist that 

 the first thing to be done is to cord the presenting limbs ; or if they do 

 not present, to seek for and cord them as soon as possible. When this is 

 done, then they may be returned to the uterus, or put out of the way, as 

 the cords will always bring them to hand again when required. While 

 they are admirably adapted for exercising traction upon, they may also in 

 certain cases be of great utility in changing a malposition of the foetus, as 

 we have already shown in our illustrative examples, and particularly in 

 Darreau's method of mutation by means of cords applied by the porte- 

 cord to the pasterns (page 497). 



They are used with the view of applying traction to the fcetus, and they 

 can be attached to the head, body, limbs, or tail, according to circum- 



