XECESSAIIV All I l.\ .\ni;.\iAI. /'.Um'/.'/Tloy. 265 



SECTION 11. — ATTENTION TO THE OFFSPRING. 



No special rules can be laid down for the management of new-born 

 animals, as this nmst vary more or less according to tlie species. How- 

 ever, there are some general rules which it may be well to observe, and 

 these we will refer to. 



With regard to the Foal or other creature which may be born in the 

 fa^tal membranes, it is evident that it nmst be freed from them imme- 

 diately, or it will perish from suffocation ; for having no longer any 

 conmiunication with the mother by means of the umbilical cord, the 

 blood cannot be oxygenated. If the umbilical cord is not ruptured, it 

 may be double-ligatured about two inches from the umbilicus, and then 

 divided between the ligatures ; or it may be severed by scraping it 

 through with a jagged knife. 



Immediately after delivery, and having removed the nmcus which 

 sometimes clogs the mouth and nostrils and hinders respiration, the 

 young animal should be examined to ascertain whether it be strong or 

 weak, whether all the natural apertures exist — such as the eyes, mouth, 

 anus, vulva, urethra — and if any of them chance to be absent, to make 

 artificial ones soon, if possible, by a kind oi puncture, enlarging after- 

 wards by the knife and sound, and preventing union by pledgets of 

 lint, etc. 



Suspended Animation. — Whenever the connection with the mother is 

 interrupted by rupture or occlusion of the umbilical cord, the young 

 creature must breathe, respiration being now carried on by the lungs, 

 through the nostrils. 



The establishment of respiration is a purely reflex act. The foetus, 

 hitherto maintained at a certain and always uniform degree of warmth 

 in its liquid bed in the uterus, is suddenly usliered into the cold and 

 dry air of tlie outer world ; and this transition operates chiefly on the 

 skin, producing a peculiar impression— such as we ourselves experience 

 in being suddenly immersed in cold water ; this impression is at once 

 transmitted to the cerebro-spinal centre, whence the reflex influence of 

 the spinal cord is called into play, and the respiratory nmscles are 

 excited to movement by the centrifugal nerves issuing therefrom. All 

 these muscles contract simultaneously, the chest is dilated, and the air 

 rushes into the air-passages and lungs, distending the air-cells in the 

 latter, and instituting the process of respiration, which is only to cease 

 with the death of the creature. This rellex act may also be produced 

 by pressure on the umbilical cord, or anything which hinders the oxy- 

 genation of the blood in the fcctus ; hence it has been inferred that the 

 excess of carbonic acid in the circulating fluid acts as a stimulus to the 

 medulla oblongata. 



It sometimes happens that the young creature is in a state of syncope 

 when born, or very soon after, and gives no sign of life. Observers 

 have distinguished syncope from weakness, in which the animal is cold 

 and does not breathe, the mucous membranes being pale and the body 

 flaccid ; and syncope from plethora or cyanosis, when the mucous 

 membranes are of a livid blue tint, the lips and tongue swollen, and 

 the eyes injected. 



In the first form, resuscitation is to be attempted by pouring cold 

 water on the head, beating the body with a cloth dipped in cold water 

 — particularly about the face and chest — dry-rubbing the limbs, titil- 

 lating the nostrils with a feather, pulling tobacco-smoke into them, 



