aKXElHL rOXSIDEn.iriOXS. 283 



well as fatif^^uing. Lon^ and powerful arms are necessary, as well 

 as much address in usin;^ them and the linj^ers ; bodily activity is 

 above all essential, in order to go about an animal, to place one's self 

 in the most favourable position for exploring and operating, and to 

 avoid injury from the creature. The veterinary obstetrist should also 

 be gifted with presence of mind, coolness, and fertility of resource ; so 

 as to take into consideration all the circumstances of the case, devise 

 his method of procedure, and carry it out promptly. 



The conditions under which the veterinarian has to perform his task 

 are not favourable or encouraging. It is anything but easy to practise 

 the necessary manipulations in the larger animals — such as the Mare 

 or Cow — in such a great cavity as the abdomen, and in the uterus 

 which lies deep in it, and contains a voluminous fcetus. In practising 

 these manipulations, the operator has to contend with the struggles 

 and disordered movements of the animal, which sometimes, in the 

 midst of its sufferings, does not hesitate to use its feet, horns, or teeth 

 as weapons of offence, or to crush its medical attendant against the 

 adjacent wall. In addition, the violent contractions of the uterus, and 

 especially of the cervix, fatigue the operator extremely. Sometimes 

 these manipulations have to be continued for hours, until the various 

 obstacles to delivery arc successively overcome, or the creature is 

 doomed to perish. 



Add to this, that Cows and ^Nlares during i)arturition often inhabit 

 close, foul stables, with an almost poisonous atmosphere, destitute of 

 light, and perhaps also cold and damp. Here the veterinarian must do 

 his duty — cold, wet, and dirty, exposed to draughts and every kind of 

 discomfort. Most frequently, too. he is left to his own resources; for 

 it is rare that intelligent and obedient assistants can be found in such 

 places. And all this after driving long distances, often at night and in 

 bad weather. How different to the accoucheur of woman ! 



All the inconveniences, risks, and hardships of the veterinary obstet- 

 rist do not end here. After manipulations, sometimes long continued, in 

 a uterus containing infective matter resulting from retention of a dead 

 foetus, or foetal membranes in process of decomposition, he is exposed to 

 the most serious septic diseases, and may even lose his life. A cutaneous 

 eruption, indeed, often appears on the arms of the operator, merely 

 through having manipulated for some time in genital organs, the mucous 

 membrane of whicii was only irritated and inflamed, or simply swollen 

 and bruised — no putrefaction or suppuration being present. Most 

 frequently the disease is only local, and is sometimes a simple, limited, 

 erythematous redness which disappears in twenty-four hours ; at other 

 times it is a trifling eczema without pustules, but with intense itching ; 

 frequently it is a pustular, sometimes confluent, ecthyma, the crusts 

 on which are occasionally not detaciied for months ; in other cases 

 there arc furuncles, abscesses on the arm, or even over the body. In 

 the majority of cases, the atTection is accompanied by fever, anorexia, 

 great uneasiness, and pains so acute that sleep is impossible ; there 

 niay also be tumefaction of the axillary glands. The course of the 

 disease is generally irregular, relapses are common, and it is a long time 

 before its effects pass off. Death sometimes occurs, and amputation of 

 a portion of the arm has been necessary. ^ Such are the difficulties and 

 risks of the veterinary accoucheur. We will now refer more particularly 

 to his line of conduct in practice. 



^ I'et^rinar;/ Journal, vol. ii., p. 21 S. 



