722 Veterinary Obstetrics 



may now be grasped. Placing the mare upon her back also re- 

 laxes the projecting floor of the vagina and, by tending to over- 

 come the version of the organ, renders traction upon the fetus less 

 dangerous to the floor of the vagina and the roof of the uterus. 



Various positions of the mare may be tried in an effort to 

 overcome the difficulty. It must be remembered that it is ex- 

 ceedingly exhausting to the mare to remain for a long period of 

 time upon her back, and this position should not be continued 

 beyond the absolute necessities of the case. If the work can 

 be done nearly as well with her standing upon her feet, this 

 position .should be preferred until the critical time arrives for 

 extracting the fetus by force, when we believe it would be best 

 in all cases to turn the mare upon her back for this brief period 

 and thereby relieve the vaginal floor and uterine roof. 



The position of the fetus and its relation to the uterus render 

 most forms of embryotomy exceedingly difficult or impossible. 

 In our experience, we have been limited to the possibility of the 

 amputation of the limbs. The decrease in the size of the fetus, 

 were we able to bring about embryotomy, especially evisceration, 

 would favor its delivery. 



After the extraction of the fetus, if the obstetrist has been so 

 fortunate as to accomplish this without fatally injuring the 

 uterus, unusual care should be taken to guard against sepsis. 

 Fig. 121 shows that the form of the uterine cavity is extremely 

 unfavorable for adequate drainage, and suggests that this be over- 

 come as far as possible by careful and repeated irrigation of the 

 uterus and siphoning out of the contents. 



In view of the fact that we have been unable to save the life 

 of either mare or foal in any case, and, so far as we have been 

 able to determine from recorded cases, no mare or foal has been 

 saved by other practitioners, it would seem to us that the 

 veterinary obstetrist is fully warranted in early resorting to 

 gastro-hysterotomy in a way to possibly save the life of his 

 patient. While we have not attempted this operation in the 

 mare, we believe that it offers the greatest hope for success in 

 the.se cases. Evidently there is nothing to lose. In one of my 

 cases, as in one of those recorded by Tapken, delivery through 

 the birth canal was wholly impossible, and under such conditions 

 clearly the only plan remaining is hysterotomy. 



Presumably there is never an opportunity to save the life of 



