RETENTION OF THE FCETAL ENVELOPES. 573 



Manual traction is often employed when a portion of the membranes 

 is visible. This is seized either by the hands, or by means of a towel, 

 or wisp of hay or straw, and gently pulled at — particularly when the 

 animal strains — twisting it at the same time, until the whole mass is re- 

 moved from the uterine cavity. 



This traction is not likely to be productive of much injury to the 

 Mare, Sow, or Bitch, as the adhesion of the placenta is .not great, and is 

 usually limited to a few points ; it is, therefore, as a rule, generally and 

 quickly successful in these animals. 



With the Cow, however, it is not so, owing to the numerous, and often 

 strong attachments of the placentae, and the fragile texture of the mem- 

 branes, which are easily torn if too much force is employed ; if they do 

 not give way, and the traction is immoderate, then there is risk of irrita- 

 ting the uterus, tearing away the cotyledons, or producing partial or 

 complete inversion of the cornua, or even of the entire uterus. Should 

 the membranes alone give way, this may lead to greater difficulty in re- 

 moving what is left of them in the uterus. 



For these reasons, some practitioners discountenance this mode of ab- 

 stracting the placenta ; but there can be no doubt that if the traction is 

 moderate and judicious, the membranes not very adherent to the interior 

 of the uterus, and a good part of them beyond the os, the operation is 

 quite justifiable, and will be successful. When, however, the resistance 

 is marked, or the membranes begin to tear, it is better to desist. 



Deneubourg recommends the following method, as better than employ- 

 ing the hands : The protruding umbilical cord is seized between two 

 pieces of wood, the length and size of an ordinary walking-stick, and 

 rolled round them until they are close to the vulva ; there, by a slight and 

 gentle circular movement, the portion engaged in the vagina produces a 

 kind of titillation which induces the animal to stretch as in micturition — 

 an act it nearly always accomplishes — and during this period the mem- 

 branes are rolled round the pieces of wood as they are detached, which 

 usually occurs in about six days, when the whole is removed. When any 

 resistance is experienced, and any thing is found to tear or rend, it is evi- 

 dent that adherences still exist, and the rolling must cease ; but then, by 

 a kind of jerking movement from side to side, there are communicated to 

 the uterus, by means of the adherent membranes, a series of shakes more 

 or less energetic, according to the state of the organ. Deneubourg says 

 that there need be no hesitation in employing a certain amount of force 

 in practising these movements : " We may act strongly, but gently." 

 Great success is said to have attended this method. 



But, after all, it is doubtful whether the more scientific and surgical, 

 and old plan — that of direct extraction by enucleation of the cotyledons 

 — is not preferable. This method consists in passing the hand into the 

 uterus, and detaching, or enucleating the cotyledons, one by one, so as to 

 destroy the adhesions between the maternal organ and the foetal envelopes, 

 and extract the latter. 



When this extraction should take place will depend upon circum- 

 stances. It will generally be found that it will not be successful beforie 

 the third day, as the cotyledons are too closely and firmly united to allow 

 their disunion without injurious force, which may bring about inversion 

 of the uterus, or laceration of the maternal cotyledons, and consequent 

 haemorrhage. About the third day is generally a favorable period, as the 

 OS is still sufficiently relaxed to pass the hand through it into the uterus, 



