xxxJi INTRODUCTION. 



been selected as the title of this work, and though it is also that which 

 is most frequently employed in technical speech by the Veterinarian, yet 

 it is not so correctly applied with respect to animals as it is to mankind ; 

 inasmuch as, according to one derivation, it implies to " stand before " 

 (from ohstare, to stand before), whereas, in aiding in the birth of animals, 

 the operator generally stands behind the creature which is in difficulty ; 

 though if the derivation from ohstare, which also means to "oppose," 

 "hinder progress," "offer obstruction," be accepted, then the term 

 is quite justifiable and expressive. The term " accouchement," so often 

 used when speaking of the birth of a human being, is not always appro- 

 priate when employed with reference to this event in animal life, as the 

 larger domesticated creatures are more frequently dehvered of their 

 young in a standing than a recumbent position. 



Instead of Obstetricy, the terms "Tokology" (tokos, a birth, from 

 TiKTeiv, to bring forth, and Adyos, a discourse), " Tokognosia," " Toka- 

 rexeologia," and " Tokarexis " — the practice of Tokology — have been 

 introduced ; but they are not sufficiently familiar to warrant their adop- 

 tion at present, and we have therefore deemed it advisable to retain the 

 better-known word. 



The term "Obstetrics" is not, as has been already shown, Umited to the 

 act of parturition — certainly one of the most important, and yet difficult, 

 of all the animal functions ; for it includes not only rules which should 

 be followed in order to remove or remedy the material obstacles or 

 accidents which may hinder the accomplishment of that act, but likewise 

 embraces everything connected with the health and preservation of the 

 female parent and the young creature while they are in the closest 

 relations with each other before parturition, as well as for some time 

 after their disjunction. 



It therefore essentially comprehends a mechanical portion, which 

 consists in devising means for surmounting obstacles that may impede 

 the birth of the young animal ; and, scarcely less important, a thorough 

 knowledge of those complex functions and conditions connected with 

 conception, generation, and the parturient state. 



The Veterinarian, then, to be a successful obstetrician, must possess 

 special and varied information of a highly scientific kind in the domain 

 of anatomy, physiology, hygiene, pathology, surgery, etc., and to this 

 must be added the benefits to be derived from experience ; for, as has 

 been well remarked by Saint-Cyr, in proportion as his intervention is 

 salutary and beneficial when it is intelligent and opportune, so may it be 

 fatal and disastrous when it is irrational, or even inopportune. His 

 knowledge of the subjects above named must be grouped in a certain 



