MECHANICAL EXTRACTION OF THE FCETUS. 505 



between the limbs, in the double of a bent neck, etc. The hand seeks 

 the one half of the cord on the opposite side of the part, and pulls it into 

 the vagina ; the instrument is then withdrawn, and the part is ready to be 

 pulled at by the cord left encircling it. 



Tyvaert (Annales de Med. Veterinaire, June, 1876, p. 320) has for a long 

 time made profitable use of a simple porte-cord. This is composed of a 

 somewhat short piece of iron wire, about the thickness of a goose-quill, 

 and bent a little round, the length and curve varying with the part to be 

 secured. One end is turned to form a small ring, while the other is bent 

 to make a hook, a little longer than wide. A cord being attached to the 

 ring end, the wire is passed round the part it is sought to seize ; the hook 

 end remains free, and afterwards receives the traction cord, serving to 

 form a running noose on the part. This porte-cord is very simple, and 

 may be made on the spot when required ; it has proved most useful for 

 securing the neck or hocks. 



Giinther {Handbuch der praktischen Veterindr Geburtshiilfe) has pro- 

 posed a complicated porte-cord, not unlike a long " ball-gun," and pro- 

 vided at the end with two jaws, which hold the cord, and release it when 

 necessary by means of a spring at the handle. 



An ordinary walking-stick may, on an emergency, and by a little inge- 

 nuity, be readily made to serve as a useful porte-cord — the bent handle of 

 the stick being utilized as the curve. 



The straight porte-cord, when required to be used, has the cord passed 

 through the eyelet at the end, the noose remaining beyond the end, and 

 of sufficient size to pass over the foot, or around the neck of the lower 

 jaw, as in Figure 144. One hand is introduced into the noose in either 

 of the ways already indicated, while the other hand seizes the handle of 

 the instrument, which is then introduced into the genital canal — the hand 

 with the noose preceding it. When the foot or jaw is reached, the noose 

 is slipped over it, and tightened by pushing on the handle of the porte- 

 cord, Cartwright has employed his straight porte-cord (Fig. 147) to 

 carry the cord over the head of the foetus and on to the neck. 



If the iron of the straight instrument is soft, it may readily be con- 

 verted into a bent porte-cord (Fig. 149), and in this altered form render 

 good service in the case of flexed limbs or bent neck, and in some mal- 

 positions of the posterior presentation. The instrument is introduced in 

 the same manner as the other form, but with only the loop — no noose — 

 at the end of the cord ; the curved portion is pushed around the part to 

 be secured, and the hand, leaving it, is passed to the opposite side of the 

 part, where it searches for the loop or ring, which, when found, is drawn 

 into the genital canal. The instrument is then withdrawn, the cord re- 

 maining around the part ; the free end of the cord is passed through the 

 loop or ring, and being pulled at, the limb, neck, body, or whatever it 

 may be, is secured in the noose so formed, and traction can in this way 

 be directly exerted upon it. 



Head-cord, or Head-collar. 



In addition to the limbs and other parts, we have stated that the trac- 

 tion-cord can often be advantageously applied to the lower jaw. Indeed, 

 in the anterior presentation, even when the fore-limbs are "corded," and 

 the head is in a favorable position, it will generally be found very useful 

 to apply traction to the head in addition, as not unfrequently pulling at 

 the fore-limbs alone only fixes them more firmly in the passage. 



