626 Veterinary Obstetrics 



tendo- Achilles attached to its summit, is more prominent and 

 clear-cut than the pisiform bone of the carpus with its attached 

 tendons. If the elbow can be reached and compared ^with the 

 stifle, they are generally quite easily distinguished, and as soon 

 as we can reach above these two parts the difficulty of differenti- 

 ation usually ceases to exist. 



In examining the limbs for purposes of identification, the in- 

 experienced veterinarian must preserve his equanimity and not 

 be too hasty in his conclusions, but deliberately search the ex- 

 tremities with which he is dealing until they are clearly identi- 

 fied upon anatomical grounds. 



In the event of 3 or 4 limbs being presented simultaneously, 

 it is sometimes more difficult to trace and identify each member 

 because of their intricate entanglement. The passages are so 

 filled, because of the extra number of limbs, that one can insert 

 the arm only with difficulty, and under such .severe pressure that 

 the sense of touch is somewhat dulled. When the feet of two 

 fetu.ses present simultaneously, they are liable to cause very great 

 confusion in diagnosis, and one needs be very careful to deter- 

 mine if twins exist or not. 



Sometimes twins may offer in the inlet one hind limb of each 

 fetus, the head and one or both fore feet of one fetus with one 

 or both hind feet of the other twin, or other confusing variations. 

 All such po.ssibilities are to be carefully considered. 



In fact, we might state, as a rule in practice, that a foot should 

 not be drawn upon to any great extent with a view to extract- 

 ing a fetus, unless we have first determined by exploration that 

 it belongs to the fetus which we desire to exert traction upon. 

 If the veterinarian is at all careless in his diagnosis, he may get 

 hold of one limb belonging to one fetus and another limb belong- 

 ing to a second fetus, and proceed to draw upon them as belonging 

 to one, with embarrassing results. 



It must be constantly remembered also, in the identification of 

 the feet of one or more fetuses which are presenting, that a sin- 

 gle fetus may be deformed in such a way that both the anterior 

 and posterior parts of the body are simultaneously presented, and 

 thus we may have offered at the pelvic inlet the head and all four 

 feet. This is especially true in the cow, where we meet with two 

 forms of monsters which are exceedingly confusing in this respect. 

 The most common of these forms is the schistocormus reflexus, in 

 which the fetus is virtually turned inside tout, so that its viscera 



