TO n^ I ox OF THE UTElirs. 339 



with abcloininal manipulation and compression, so as to fix the fcetua 

 and uterus, or to push them in the desired direction for effecting 

 detorsion ; at the same time rotation is practised according to the 

 directions laid down. 



Numerous practitioners are content to roll the Cow without attempt- 

 ing to fix or manipulate the vagina or uterus, and many successful 

 cases are recorded by them. 



But tliis success appears to have been obtained at the expense of the 

 Cow or its ftctus, as the rotation had to be carried on for a longer time 

 than if the organ had been fixed ; several turns may be necessary where 

 one would suffice with the hand in the vagina. 



If detorsion does not take place so soon as anticipated, there is no 

 reason to despair. If the direction of the twist has been exactly made 

 out, the rotation may be continued. Weber, Wannovius, and Fischer 

 mention instances in which the Cow has been rolled from fifteen to 

 twenty turns before success crowned their efforts. It is even men- 

 tioned that the rolling in some cases has occupied an hour or more. 

 Weber writes : — " The Cow is often rolled for more than an hour. 

 The operation is laborious, sometimes painful, to the operator ; it 

 demands an expenditure of strength which the most vigorous can 

 scarcely boast of, and requires much amour-propre to undertake it. 

 The efforts required to complete it are so great, that often when a 

 successful result has been obtained the operator is out of breath and 

 exhausted." 



Happily, these extreme and baffling cases are rare, and they have 

 generally been observed with Cows in which the foetus was dead. It is 

 a common remark that reposition is easier when the fujtus is alive than 

 when it is dead. 



Unfortunately, cases will be met with in which replacement of the 

 uterus, and, consequently, delivery of the foetus, is impossible by this 

 method of rotation, and these are more particularly cases of multiple 

 torsion. Rueff says that they are sometimes accompanied by decom- 

 position of the foetus, when the gases which are developed in the uterus 

 inflate the organ, and prevent its being untwi-sted. In other instances 

 there is plastic adhesion Ijetween the spiral folds, or between the uterus 

 and other abdominal viscera, or even the parietes of the abdomen. 



When the uterus, by its exaggerated volume, appears to offer an in- 

 surmountable obstacle to reposition, it has been recommended to 

 puncture it through the vagina, and allow a quantity of its contained 

 fluid to escape, so as to reduce it to manageable dimensions, when the 

 other measures can be resumed. 



It is also advisable, in all cases of torsion, to empty the digestive 

 organs as much as possible, by an active purgative. 



It has often been predicted that the rotation procedure may give rise 

 to serious accidents — such as volvulus of the intestines, hernitc, etc. 

 But we cannot find any notice of such accidents having occurred. 



If the diagnosis is correct, the nature and direction of the torsion well 

 ascertained, the animal not too much exhausted, and the parts in- 

 volved not seriously injured, a successful result may be anticipated in 

 the large majority of cases, when the treatment above indicated is 

 carried out. 



When the uterus is placed in its normal position, the genital passages 

 patent and in a proper state for delivery, the Cow not much exhausted, 

 and the fcetus in a good attitude for birth, time may be allowed for 



