5IO OBSTETRIC OPERATIONS. 



from the manner in which it acts on the neck, the lower jaw, and the face, 

 and the impossibility of its becoming tighter when once it is fixed, it is 

 absolutely inoffensive, so far as the foetus is concerned ; and, finally, 

 owing to the nose-loop, it always keeps the head in a good direction, pre- 

 vents it from deviating, and compels it to follow the course most favor- 

 able for its extraction : in the words of Schaack himself, " Without exag- 

 geration, the forceps of the accoucheurs could not answer better for the 

 human foetus." As an agent of prehension and traction — but particu- 

 larly the latter, Saint-Cyr asserts that he does not know of any thing 

 superior to this apparatus. 



Schaack's halter is more especially applicable to the bovine foetus, the 

 head of which is so much larger and squarer than that of solipeds, and 

 sometimes requires such energetic pulling at to remove from the pelvis. 



Crotchets or Hooks. 



Obstetrical crotchets or hooks are iron or steel instruments of variable 

 dimensions, more or less curved at one end — which is blunt, sharp, or 



Fig. 158. Fig. 159. 



Short Blunt Crotchet. Blunt Finger Crotchet. 



pointed ; the other end having a ring or eyelet if short, a handle if long. 

 The latter are from thirty to thirty-six inches in length (including the 

 handle), and act directly on the foetus without any other appliance inter- 

 vening ; while the short hooks have cords attached to them, or they may 

 fit on the finger of the operator by means of a ring. Some sharp crotchets 

 are jointed at the end curve, so as to permit them to be more readily and 

 safely introduced into the genital passage by bringing the sharp point 

 near the stalk, the curve being restored by a spring when the foetus is 

 reached. But the advantages' of the joint hooks are very few, while their 

 strength is impaired and their expense increased. In using the long or 

 short pointed crotchets, risk of injury to the maternal organs may be 

 obviated, if the hand is not found sufficient to guard the instrument dur- 

 ing its intromission, by fixing the point in a piece of cork or soft wood, 

 to which a long piece of twine is attached ; when the crotchet is required 

 to be implanted in the foetus, this shield may be removed from the point, 

 and withdrawn from the genital organs by pulling at the end of the twine 

 outside the vulva. 



Blunt and sharp crotchets are much employed in veterinary obstetrics, 

 and are very valuable. The blunt crotchets are more particularly resorted 

 to when the foetus is alive, and it is hoped to extract it before it is dead ; 

 they are most serviceable in correcting deviations of the head or limbs, 

 and the long crotchet is especially useful in finding and straightening the 

 latter. The curve should be about four inches wide. The finger crotchet 

 may be usefully employed when the hand is fatigued or paralyzed by the 

 uterine contractions. Blunt crotchets of a much smaller size than those 

 required for the larger animals can be most successfully employed in 

 delivering the Sow, Sheep, Goat, Bitch, or Cat. 



