662 Veterinary Obstetrics 



The author has had prepared a special skeleton of the cow, 

 which has been strongl)^ mounted and securely fixed, so that any- 

 desired force may be used upon it without danger to the appar- 

 atus. Inside the skeletal cavity we have placed a leather sac, in 

 imitation of the uterus. New-born calves are procured and 

 killed, and the body placed in the artificial uterus in any position 

 which may be desired, and the student is asked to correct the 

 vicious position or deviation of an extremity, or to perform em- 

 bryotomy by a definite plan. In such a case, the work closely 

 simulates that encountered in actual practice. The fetus is out 

 of sight, and the leather sac may be so adjusted that any desired 

 degree of pressure upon the fetus may be commanded. 



The operation must be carried out through the pelvis, and the 

 height of the pelvis from the floor is es.sentially the same as en- 

 countered in actual practice in the standing animal. 



Any veterinarian who has not enjo^-ed the privilege of such 

 opportunities in college, or who has not satisfactorily availed 

 himself of such opportunities, need not be debarred from the 

 benefits of such work. Numerous devices have been described 

 and used, many of which are easily and cheaply constructed, and 

 readily available to any practitioner. One can take an ordinary 

 stout box, of sufficient dimensions to contain the new-born fetus, 

 and may make an opening at one end, about the size of the pelvic 

 canal. He may then procure, from time to time, new-born 

 calves and, placing them in the box, proceed to practice the 

 various changes in position or different forms of embryotomy, as 

 described. If he desires to approach more nearly to the normal 

 conditions, he may use the pelvis of a cow or mare, through which 

 to do his work, and beyond it secure the fetus in a box or bag. 

 Such apparatus may be placed upon a strong table, or otherwise 

 secured, at a height convenient for the work. Such exercises in 

 obstetric surgery are of so great importance that any inexperi- 

 enced veterinarian who has to do with dystokia can not properly 

 afford to neglect them, because they give to him an experience 

 which renders his actual work far more efficient and satisfactory. 

 They decrease greatly the strain of his work in actual practice, 

 and increase enormously his success as a practitioner. 



