TOnSIOX OF TIIK UTERUS. 335 



German, French, Belgian, Swiss, and Italian veterinary obstetrists have 

 practised this method of reduction in a very large number of instances, 

 and altogether with most gratifying results. And veterinary surgeons 

 in this country have also found the method very satisfactory. As with 

 Denoc's rotation method, this is a version of the uterus, and not of the 

 fa'tus. 



Tlie manner of rolling the animal varies somewhat with difl'erent 

 authorities, but in principle all are agreed. The first step, after ascer- 

 taining the existence and the direction of the displacement, is to empty 

 the udder of its milk as completely as possible, so as to prevent the 

 gland being injured during the operation. 



\Vlnle this is being done, a sutViciently roomy place should be got 

 ready, and the floor covered with a thick layer of straw or moss litter ; 

 on this the Cow is thrown on the proper side, and witli all possible 

 care, the feet being fastened together. The hand and arm are then to 

 be introduced as far into the vagina as its condition will permit. 

 Should the os be accessible, and dilated, some part of the fa?tus must be 

 secured, and more especially a limb ; this must be firmly maintained in 

 one position. If the fa?tU3 cannot be reached, then nothing remains 

 but to make the wall of the vagina the point of resistance until a better 

 can be made available. 



The assistants are then to pull at the ropes which secure the feet of 

 the Cow, so as to bring the animal on its back ; then gently, and with- 

 out jerking, allow it to fall on the opposite side. This being done, the 

 animal is raised on its chest, by the shoulder and quarter, and turned 

 over on the side on which it was thrown. In this way it will have 

 made a complete rotation. 



While the assistants are rolling the Cow, the operator, with his hand 

 in the vagina or uterus, as the case may be, endeavours, by pressing in 

 the opposite direction, to keep the organ fixed aud to prevent its follow- 

 ing the movement the body is undergoing. 



If the operation is well conducted, and the body of the Cow moved in 

 the proper direction, the obstetrist will lind, as rotation is carried on, 

 that the genital passage is becoming wider and the obstacle disappear- 

 ing, until, the spiral rings having become efi'aced, the hand can reach 

 the cenix and penetrate the uterus if the os is relaxed. Generally a 

 gush of the liquor amnii from the organ announces the termination of 

 the operation. 



If, however, the hand is more strongly compressed by the spiral folds 

 as the animal is turned on its axis, and the vaginal canal is diminishing 

 in length, it is a proof that rotation is elTected in the wrong direction. 

 This is remedied, of course, by reversing the movement. 



Sometimes it is sufficient to make the animal execute a complete turn 

 to bring the uterus into its usual position. More fretjuently, however, 

 this rotation only relaxes the constriction and does not entirely efface 

 the rings ; so that it is necessary to continue the turning— always in 

 the same direction — until the desired result has been obtained. Then 

 parturition can be completed in the ordinary way. 



It will be seen from this description that the method consists simply 

 in rolling the Cow as one would roll a barrel ; and the only point now 

 to be discussed is the direction in which it should be rolled. 



This point, strange to say, has given rise to as warm and unsatis- 

 factory discussions as some of the other points to which reference has 

 already been made. Some authorities have declared that, to achieve 



