456 VETERINARY LECTURES 



of each hock, bringing the latter outwards with the hook {Plate 

 LI I., Fig. 6) ; put a loop of good strong cord round the joint, press 

 the front of the shank-bone against the front of the tibia or leg- 

 bone, and pull the hind-legs into the passage, when extraction of the 

 foetus follows. 



782. Plate L-, Figs. 18 and 19, represent twins. It is necessary 

 in all cases of parturition, before any cords are attached or any pulling 

 attempted, that a careful and minute exploration and examination be 

 made, more particularly so in cases of double or triple birth, in order 

 to make perfectly certain that the legs seen or felt belong to the 

 head and neck of the foetus presented. 



783. Plate LIU., Fig. 23, represents a case of a monstrosity, in 

 which the hind-legs are doubled over the shoulder and the fore-legs 

 under the chin, while the walls of the belly are reflected over the 

 hind-legs, with the bowels floating loose in the womb of the mother. 

 When the bowels are presented first, after careful examination, they 

 must be removed ; then with a knife (horse-shoeing knife for 

 preference) cut through the back-bone at the most convenient point 

 and extract the portion readiest to hand by passing in the large 

 hook. When the head and feet are first presented, the case is more 

 serious ; sometimes one or both of the fore-legs may be extracted, 

 and by putting a cord round the head, with strong pulling, the back- 

 bone may be broken through. After removing the front portion, the 

 rest is got away with hooks, while the viscera follows. Sometimes 

 these monstrosities are double-headed, and when the heads are pre- 

 sented they are very difficult to manipulate. When the hind-legs are 

 presented first there is a chance of the foetus being got away, providing 

 the mother is well developed, big-boned, and has plenty of room. 

 The double-headed calf (Plate LI 1 1., Fig. 24) was removed through 

 a breech presentation, the hind-feet coming first. In the case of the 

 enlarged head — hydrocephalus, or water on the brain (Fig. 14, page 350) 

 — the skull was cut into with the embryotomy knife (par. 570) and 

 all the water pressed out, when the bones of the head collapsed and 

 the calf was removed by putting a strong cord round its neck. The 



