178 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



admit it, and if not, a narrow-bladed probe-pointed knife (PI. XXIV, 

 fig. 2) may be passed through the orifice and turned upward, down- 

 Avard, and to each side, cutting to a depth not exceeding a quarter of 

 an inch in each case. This done, a finger may be inserted, tlien two, 

 three, and four, and finally all four fingers and thumb brought 

 together in the form of a cone and made to push in with rotary motion 

 until the whole hand can be introduced. After this the labor pains 

 will induce further dilatation, and finally the presenting members of 

 the calf Avill comi^lete the process. 



TWISTING OF THE NECK Or THE WOMB. 



This is not very uncommon in the cow, the length of the body of 

 the womb and the looseness of the broad ligaments that attach it to 

 the walls of the pelvis favoring the twisting. It is as if one were to 

 take a long sack rather loosely filled at the neck and turn over its 

 closed end, so that its twisting should occur in the neck. The twist 

 may be one-quarter round, so that the upper surface w^ould come to 

 look to one side, or it may be half round, so that what was the upper 

 surface becomes the lower. The relation of the w'omb of the cow to 

 the upper and right side of the paunch favors the twisting. The 

 paunch occupies the whole left side of the abdomen and extends 

 across its floor to the right side. Its upper surface thus forms an 

 inclined plane, sloping from the left downward and to the right, and 

 on this sloping surface lies the pregnant womb. 



It is easy to see how, in the constant movements of the paunch 

 upon its contents and the frequent changes of position of the growing 

 fetus within the womb, to say nothing of the contractions of the adja- 

 cent bowels and the more or less active movements of the cow, the 

 womb should roll downward to the right. And yet in many cases 

 the twist is toward the left, showing that it is not the result of a 

 simple rolling downward over the paunch, but rather of other dis- 

 turbances. The condition may be suspected when labor pains have 

 continued for some time without any sign of the w^ater bags, and it is 

 confirmed when the oiled hand, introduced through the vagina, finds 

 the mouth of the womb soft and yielding, but furnished with internal 

 folds running forward in a spiral manner^* If the folds on the upper 

 wall of the orifice run toward the right, the womb is twisted to the 

 right ; if, on the contrary, they turn toward the left, it indicates that 

 the womb is turned over in that direction. The direction of the twist 

 must be known before treatment can be undertaken. Then, if the 

 r-.vist is toward the right, the cow is laid upon her right side with her 

 head downhill, the hand of the operator is introduced through the 

 spirally constricted neck of the womb, and a limb or other portion of 

 the body of the calf is seized and pressed firmly against the wall of 



