278 BOVINE OBSTETRICS 



when the retained leg can usually be adjusted and brought into 

 the pelvic canal. 



But when both hind legs are retained and it is impossible 

 to extend the legs or practice extraction in this malposition, 

 removal at the hip joint is indicated. 



Modus operandi — To operate successfully, the hind- 

 quarters of the calf must be fixed. For this purpose a rope is 

 placed around the tail as far up as possible, an assistant pull- 

 ing on it. Now the tail is doubled up and a new loop is 

 placed around these parts over the first loop. 



It may also be fixed nicely by passing a short hook with 

 a cord into the rectum, into the oval foramen, by means of 

 which an assistant draws on the hind parts. 



The obstetrician passes the sliding bistoury along the tail 

 as far as the coxo-femoral articulation. Since the assistant 

 pulls the pelvis of the calf against the pelvic inlet of the cow, 

 the incision of the hip joint can be made on a comparatively 

 immovable basis. 



The incision through the skin is made from the hip joint 

 as far as the postero-external angle of the ischium and suffi- 

 ciently long to permit introduction of the hand. 



The skin is now separated with the hand, or better, with 

 the fingers, upward, forward and downward, until the patella 

 is within reach. After doing it the muscles of the hind leg are 

 cut with the finger knife, not forgetting the biceps femoris and 

 semi-tendinous muscles and the attachment at the cotyloid 

 cavity. The noose of a rope is now passed under the tro- 

 chanter around the thigh and back, running the free end of the 

 rope through it. The loop thus formed is placed firmly below 

 the trochanter with the fingers and thumb. An assistant now 

 pulling on the rope dislocates the head of the femur and the 

 leg can be extracted from the skin. The higher up the skin is 

 separated, the easier the extraction of the hind leg. Extrac- 

 tion may also be assisted by separating the skin from the 

 underlying parts, especially the tendo Achilles, while trac- 

 tion is exerted. After the leg has been palled out of the skin 

 a circular incision is made at the fetlock, and the hind leg 



