DOGS I THEIR MANAGEMENT. 375 



with in the cow, mare, and the larger animals ; but I 

 have never known a case of false presentation in the 

 bitch ; and I am led to conclude that the authors who 

 narrated such cases, drew upon their experience in other 

 directions, describing imaginative possibilities as circum- 

 stances that had actually occurred. I do not well com- 

 prehend how a false presentation could take place in this 

 animal, and I can grant the possibility of its ever having 

 been witnessed to the first pup alone. It is remotely 

 possible that this one should be presented sideways, 

 though highly improbable it could take such a position. 

 After the womb has expelled the first of the litter, the 

 body of the generative organ contracts ; and all the 

 others must pass through it in a line favorable to the 

 birth. 



It is of little consequence, in the young of the dog, 

 whether the head or tail be first born. Examples in both 

 directions are always witnessed in every puppying. So 

 likewise is it of small importance how the legs are placed, 

 though of course delivery is favored by their being pro- 

 perly arranged. At the time of birth, however, the bones 

 of the pup are but partially consolidated ; and that cir- 

 cumstance causes them not to offer those serious obstruc- 

 tions which they are found to present in other creatures. 

 The gelatinous mass readily takes the form required for 

 its expulsion ; and the practitioner has little reason to 

 perplex himself concerning those particulars which in the 

 calf or foal he knows to be of vital import. 



The principal obstruction to birth in the bitch springs 



