DISEASES OF THE GEXERATWE ORGANS. 179 



the womb. Meanwhile two or three assistants roll the cow from her 

 right side over on her back to her left side. The object is to hold the 

 womb and calf still while the body of the cow rolls over. If success- 

 ful, the twist is undone, its grasp on the wrist is slackened, and the 

 Avater bags and calf press into the now open passage. If the first 

 attempt does not succeed, it is to be repeated until success has been, 

 attained. If the spiral folds on the upper wall of the opening turn 

 toward the left, the cow is laid on her left side and rolled over on 

 her back and onto the right side, the hand being, as before, within the 

 womb and holding the fetus, so that all may not rotate with the cow. 

 In introducing the hand it will usually be found needful to perforate 

 the membranes, so that a limb of the calf may be seized direct and 

 firmly held. Among my occasional causes of failure with these cases 

 have been, first, the previous death and decomposition of the fetus, 

 leading to such overdistention of the womb that it could not be made 

 to rotate within the abdomen, and, second, the occurrence of inflam- 

 mation and an exudate on the twisted neck of the womb, which hin- 

 dered it from untwisting. 



In obstinate cases, in which the hand can be made to pass through 

 the neck of the womb easily, additional help may be had from the use 

 of the instrument shown in Plate XX. figure 5. Two cords, with run- 

 ning nooses, are successively introduced and made fast on two limbs 

 of the calf; the cords are then passed through the two rings on the 

 end of the instrument, which is passed into the womb and the cords 

 drawn tight and fixed round the handle. Then, using the handle as a 

 lever, it is turned in the direction opjwsite to the twist. The hand 

 should meanwhile be introduced into the womb and the snared limbs 

 seized and pressed against its walls so as to secure the rotation of the 

 uterus along with the body of tlie fetus. The relaxation of the con- 

 striction and the effacement of the spiral folds will show when suc- 

 cess has been gained, and the different meml>ers at one end of the body 

 should then be brought up so as to secure a natural presentation. 



NARROW PEIAIS FROM FRACTURE OR DISEASE. 



In a small cow the pelvis may be too narrow to pass a calf sired by 

 a bull of a large breed, but this is exceptional, as the fetus usually 

 accommodates itself to the size of the dam and makes its extra growth 

 after birth. When the pelvic bones have been fractured repair takes 

 place with the formation of a large permanent callus, which, project- 

 ing internally, may be a serious obstacle to calving. Worse still, if 

 the edge of the broken bone projects internally as a sharp spike or 

 ridge, the vaginal walls are cut upon this during the passage of the 

 calf, with serious or fatal result. In other cases, where the cow has 

 suffered from fragility of bone {fr'agilitas ossiinn) the thickening of 



