io66 Veterinary Obstetrics 



charge, no abnormal odor. One posterior naris was completely 

 closed, and consequently there was unilateral breathing. A 

 sound, passed along the floor of the affected nostril, when it 

 reached the posterior naris, passed upward and backward until 

 it lodged against the base of the sphenoid bone, instead of glid- 

 ing downward and backward into the pharynx. 



The handling of this defect should be undertaken early, or at 

 least recognized early, in order to determine whether the diffi- 

 culty can be successfully removed or not. If the case is properly 

 diagnosed, the prognosis is good. 



By means of a rigid curved sound, the membrane stretching 

 across the posterior naris may usually be ruptured. In opera- 

 ting, the occluding partition should be carefully broken down un- 

 til free respiration through the nostril is obtained. If necessary, 

 the frontal bone may be trephined on a level with the posterior 

 nares, and the partition ruptured with forceps, sound or other 

 instrument, through the trephine opening. 



6. Atresia of Other Body Openings. 



An imperforate condition of any other body opening may ex- 

 ist, but aside from those already mentioned, which are not at 

 all common, such conditions in our domestic animals are exceed- 

 ingly rare, and are of scientific, rather than practical interest. 



Imperforate prepuce has been described by Brugnone as occur- 

 ring in foals. He recommends that the organ be divided, and 

 the opening held apart by some suitable contrivance. If such 

 an opening is not made, the urine must necessarily be voided 

 through the urachus. The operation cannot usually succeed 

 unless the atresia involves the prepuce only. If the urethra it- 

 self is closed, it is generally impossible to effectively open it. 



Epispadias is a term used to designate a defect in the urethra 

 by which it opens upon its superior surface at some point other 

 than the extremity of the penis. In other instances the ab- 

 normal opening may occur upon the inferior surface of the tube, 

 and is then known as hypospadias. In such instances there is 

 an absence of the urethral canal beyond the point of opening. 



In the majority of cases in veterinary practice, and described as 

 epispadias or hypospadias, the condition is in reality an approach 

 toward, if not actual hermaphroditism. There are present, in 

 varying degrees of development, some parts of both the male and 



