EMBRYOTOMY. 541 



in woman, with all those advantages and appliances of which the veter- 

 inary obstetrist cannot avail himself, craniotomy is always a formidable 

 undertaking. The cephalotribe and craniodast, so useful in human obstet- 

 ricy, cannot be employed with our animals, it would appear ; but there is 

 no reason why modifications of these instruments might not be devised 

 to answer the same end. 



Hurtrel d'Arboval recommends that craniotomy be performed with a 

 convex probe-pointed bistoury (sharp on the convex border), the middle 

 of the cranium being incised ; then the fingers compress the bones, and 

 so effect delivery. 



Rainard advises two incisions on each side of the head, in the parietal 

 region. Giinther mentions that if, after puncture, the operator cannot 

 crush the bones of the cranium with the hand, they should be cut by 

 his secator, and removed picemeal. Carsten Harms states that when 

 the head is an obstacle, it should always be crushed, if possible, the 

 bones being broken beneath the skin. Sometimes it is sufficient to re- 

 move the lower jaw ; and in order to effect this, the jaw is first fixed by 

 a cord, the skin is then cut through on each side — from the commissure 

 of the mouth to the temporo-maxillary articulation, the masseter muscles 

 and the ligaments being divided ; a transverse section of the skin is now 

 made between the two joints, the finger separating it, and two or three 

 assistants pulling at the cord, the jaw is removed. If it is the trans- 

 verse diameter of the head which forms the obstacle, the division must 

 be longitudinal, and great service may be derived from the use of the 

 bone-chisel — either Cartwright's or Margraff's pattern. As much of the 

 skin should be left as possible, in order to cover the jagged ends of the 

 bones. 



With the smaller animals, puncture and craniotomy are not at all diffi- 

 cult operations, the bones being fragile and easily perforated or crushed. 



Decapitation. 



Decapitation, an operation which consists in separating the head com- 

 pletely from the body, so as to allow these parts to be removed one after 

 the other, is not very often required ; and fortunately so, as it is not with- 

 out great danger to the parent. More frequently the head is partially re- 

 moved, the fore-limbs amputated, or evisceration of the chest or abdo- 

 men, or both, practised, rather than resort to decapitation. 



Nevertheless, it is indicated when a double-headed monstrosity — mon- 

 osomian or sysooiian — is presented, and in certain irreducible malposi- 

 tions of the head or limbs — especially in heifers, when the head of the 

 calf is in the genital canal, and can neither be advanced nor pushed 

 into the uterus. 



The operation is more or less difficult, according to the situation of 

 the head : if entirely in the uterus or fixed in the passage, or if it is or 

 can be brought near or beyond the vulva. In the latter instance, it is 

 easily accomplished ; although, except in the case of double monstrosi- 

 ties, it is rarely very useful, as when the head is in this situation it is 

 not an obstacle to birth, and its removal deprives the operator of a most 

 powerful means of exercising traction on the parts which are firmly re- 

 tained in the maternal organs. When wedged in the canal, however, 

 the head may prove a troublesome obstacle to the performance of those 

 manoeuvres necessary for the reduction of other parts ; as it may not be 

 possible either to advance or repel it, nor yet to pass the hand between 



