522 



OBSTETRIC OPERATIONS. 



stalk. Into these holes the two wires of one side are passed ; the machine 

 on each side is pulled up as close as possible to the head of the foetus, 

 and then each being turned round three or four times, the neck is en- 

 closed in a kind of noose or collar formed by the two wires (Fig. 179). 



The rods are now withdrawn from the latter, and the foetus can be ex- 

 tracted by exercising traction on the ends of the four wires outside the 

 vulva. By this contrivance, delivery is effected without injury to the 

 Bitch, and, unless it is much decomposed, without separating the head of 

 the foetus. 



We have tried Defays' apparatus, and can speak highly of it ; not un- 

 frequently we have succeeded in extracting the puppy alive, and when the 

 use of forceps would have been impossible. - 



Fig. 179. 

 Defays' Wire-Extractor Applied. ^ 



A much simpler, readier, and perhaps more successful apparatus (so 

 far as our experience enables us to speak), is that devised by Breulet, of 

 Marche, Belgium, which meets every requirement in the accouchement of 

 small Bitches, and might be successfully employed with Sows, Ewes, and 

 Goats. This apparatus is the same in principle as Defays' wire-extractor, 

 but there is only one wire. The principal part of the invention is a 

 noose-tube, consisting of a tubular piece of round wood, from four to six 

 inches long, and half an inch thick. The wire may either be of copper, 



Fig. I So. 

 Breulet's Tube and Noose. 



brass, or iron, about sixteen int:hes long (we have generally used a piece 

 of catgut, and prefer it) ; this is doubled, passed through the tube to a cer- 

 tain extent, so as to form a loop or noose at the end (Fig. 180). When it 

 is to be used, the first finger of the left hand carries the loop into the va- 

 gina of the Bitch, and slips it behind the occiput of the puppy ; then the 

 two ends of the wire are passed through the tube, and this is pushed into 

 the vagina under the chin of the foetus ; the operator now tightens and 

 secures the wire, by giving it a turn round the first finger of his right 

 hand, placing his thumb at the end of the tube (Fig. 181). A little trac- 

 tion then extracts the foetus, and without doing it or the Bitch the least 

 damage. We now employ no other instrument in canine obstetricy, and 

 our success has always been complete, even with the tiniest toy terriers. 

 When our assistance has been sought for in time, we have generally 

 managed, expeditiously and easily, to extract the puppies alive. 



