CANINE OBSTETRICS. 293 



a ligature lightly applied to each surface, but leaving the threads 

 without the wound, which is to be closed by stitches and bandag- 

 ing. Farriers often apply no ligature, but content themselves with 

 simply sewing up the wound, and no ill consequence seems to en- 

 sue. Bitches, after they have been spayed, become fat, bloated, 

 and spiritless, and commonly prove short-lived : for Nature usually 

 punishes any considerable deviations from her common laws ; and 

 it is observed among animals, when the great work of propagation 

 is artificially stopped, particularly in the female, that her sexual 

 secretions failing to be rightly applied, and her reproductive organs 

 remaining unemployed, the body becomes diseased. 



CANINE OBSTETRICS. 



DIFFICULT PUPPING. 



Great numbers of bitches die every year in bringing forth their 

 young : a life of art has brought the human curse upon them, 

 and they seem, in common with their female owners, to be doomed 

 to bring forth in sorrow and pain. When bitches are at heat, 

 great care should therefore be taken to prevent their intercourse 

 with dogs much larger than themselves ; otherwise the size of the 

 father influencing the size of the progeny, they become dispro- 

 portionate to the parts of the mother, and she is often found un- 

 able to bring them into the world ; thus it is that cats, being all 

 of nearly one size, seldom die in kittening. All dogs, that are 

 much domesticated and confined, appear particularly subject to 

 difficulty in bringing forth ; consequently during pregnancy much 

 exercise should be given, as nothing tends more to easy parturition 

 than full exercise. Sometimes the constitution itself, in these 

 tender and artificial breeds, is not equal to the exertion of labour ; 

 and sometimes false presentation increases the obstruction. When- 

 ever a difficulty in pupping occurs, which has existed more than 

 four or five hours, the bitch should be examined by means of a 

 finger passed up the vagina ; and, if any portion of a pup should 

 be found to present itself, so as to be within reach of the finger, 



