624 Veterinary Obstetrics 



It is highly important also that the veterinarian determine 

 very early, both from a forensic and a professional standpoint, 

 whether empirics or others have meddled with the case prior to 

 his arrival and have caused thereby more or less serious injury, 

 which, if passed unnoticed, may later lead to serious embarrass- 

 ment to him. 



It is exceedingly unfortunate, for example, for a veterinarian 

 to be called to attend a case which has previously been meddled 

 with by an empiric, to the extent of rupturing the uterus or 

 causing some other fatal lesion, and to proceed with the opera- 

 tion of delivering the animal without having first discovered that 

 the fatal injury exists. Should this error be committed, the vet- 

 erinarian is almost inevitably blamed with having caused the in- 

 jury himself and might even be held legally responsible for the 

 consequences. 



In one case we were called to attend a valuable mare suffering 

 from dystokia, in which the head of the fetus was deviated to the 

 side and an empiric had attempted to catch the head with a butcher ' s 

 hook in order to correct the deviation, but failed to do this and 

 had ruptured the uterus instead. We were not advised that 

 anyone had attempted delivery, and in fact meddling with the 

 case was denied. We proceeded to perform embryotomy without 

 examining the uterus very carefully except in the posterior re- 

 gion. When nearly through with our operation of embryotomy, 

 the rupture was discovered owing to the prolapse of the intes- 

 tines of the mare through the rent in the uterus. It was only 

 under hard pressure that the owner was finally compelled to ad- 

 mit that other parties had attempted the delivery before we had 

 been called. 



Similar experiences are common in veterinary practice, and 

 should always be guarded against as carefully as possible, because 

 such oversight is liable at any time to very unfavorably affect 

 the professional standing of the veterinarian. 



In such an examination the practitioner should also determine 

 the condition of the genital organs in every way, whether the 

 pas.sages are fully dilated or are dilatable, whether they are nor- 

 mal or obstructed, or if they are inflamed, swollen or necrotic. 



It is highly important also to learn at once whether or not 

 there is any displacement of the uterus, such as tonsion. The 

 condition of the fetus is also highly important in reference 

 to the course to be pursued and the prognosis. It should be de- 



