634 Veterhiarv Obstetrics 



the ventral surface of the body of the fetus toward the right of 

 the mother, he lifts upward and to the left, upon the buttocks, 

 while the assistant having charge of the cord upon the right foot 

 stands upon the right side of the patient and draws obliquely 

 upward to the right, changing the direction gradually to the 

 right and thence downwards. The assistant having charge of 

 the cord upon the left foot crosses it behind the right, draws 

 gently obliquely backward to the left, and aids the rotation 

 by holding the fetus away from the right side of the pelvis. 



In the anterior presentation, the general plan of the operation 

 is similar, though it may be rendered far more difficult by the 

 presence of the head and neck. It may even be necessary that 

 the head be amputated before the rotation can be effected. Aside 

 from this the plan should be carried out essentially the same, ex- 

 cept that the operator's hand acts upon the withers of the fetus, 

 instead of upon the buttocks, as in the preceding case. 



C. Version. Since it is essential that a fetus present longi- 

 tudinally in order to be expelled, it follows that, when it presents 

 more or less transversely, such an attitude needs be changed to 

 the longitudinal presentation before the fetus can enter the pelvic 

 canal. In other words, we must change the presentation of the 

 fetus by bringing its long axis into a line parallel with the spinal 

 axis of the mother. Empirics occasionally state that they have 

 accomplished version of the fetus when it has presented longitu- 

 dinally and have changed a posterior presentation into an anteri- 

 or one. This assertion has been to some extent copied by some 

 veterinary writers. It must be very plain to any intelligent vet- 

 erinary obstetrist of experience that such an operation is impos- 

 sible, under normal conditions, and could only be carried out in 

 cases where the uterine cavity is very large and the fetus very 

 small, in which case there is evidently no good reason whatever 

 for carrying it out. Version is confined in obstetric practice 

 to the changing of a transverse into a longitudinal presentation. 



Version may be of two classes — anterior and posterior. ' The 

 operator usually prefers to convert a transverse into a posterior 

 presentation, because he then needs deal with but two extremi- 

 ties, the hind limbs ; whereas, were he to convert into an ante- 

 rior presentation, he would need bring the head and both anterior 

 limbs into the passage. 



