EMBRYOTOMY. .535 



exhibits an improved model of Gunther's second embryotom ; the original 

 pattern had double cutting edges. We may remark that Zundel and Saint- 

 Cyr give Thibeaudeau the credit of inveniing this sliding bistoury ; but 

 the instrument is only described by the latter in 183 1 {Rec. de Med. Vet- 

 h'inaire, 1831, p. 152); where as an exactly similar knife is figured in 

 Giinther's work {Lehrbuch der Practischen Veterindr-Gebiirtshiilfe), pub- 

 lished at Hanover in 1830. 



Another kind of embryotom is one not unlike an ordinary large scal- 

 pel, along one side of which glides a blade-guard, which can also be 

 moved backwards or forwards by the thumb of the hand that holds it. 

 This is a very convenient knife (Fig. 188). 



Fig. 187. 

 GuNrHER's Embryotom: Improved Pattern. 



Embryotoms have also been proposed by Brogniez, Hubert, Contamin, 

 Obermayer, and others, but they all are more or less imitations of the 

 foregoing models. 



Giinther figures an embryotom fixed on a handle, and which may be of 

 any convenient length — about thirty inches is recommended (Fig. 189) ; 

 the blade is semicircular, the concave border and point being very sharp. 

 This instrument is extolled foi" its usefulness in cutting through the mus- 

 cles subcutaneously, and especially in separating the limbs from the trunk. 

 The same authority gives the figure of a " Scheerenmesser," or " secator," 

 as it has been termed. This is an instrument about thirty-six inches in 

 length, composed of two branches, held together by two short sheaths, 



Fig. 188. 

 Colin's Scalpel Embryotom. 



through which the one glides on the other. Each of the branches has a 

 blade placed at a right angle to the stalk ; these blades are opposite each 

 other, the opposing edges being sharp, and they are brought in contact 

 by a ratchet arrangement and screw moved by a handle at the other 

 extremity. This instrument is very powerful, and can divide bones as 

 well as soft tissues. 



Subcutaneous embryotomy is at times very necessary, but after the 

 skin has been incised great difficulty is often experienced in separating 

 it from the textures beneath, by tearing through the connective tissue. 

 This is found to be the case more particularly in amputating the shoulder, 

 when the fingers become fatigued in trying to pass them beneath the skin. 

 To facilitate this part of the operation, different-shaped spatulas have 

 been devised, which do the work of the fingers in liberating the skin from 

 the parts it covers. One of these spatulas has been used by Cartwright ; 

 it is merely a thin but rigid blade of iron, about seven inches long and 



