418 FCETAL DYSTOKIA. 



difficulty — rather a matter for wonder, considering the width of two 

 foetal heads joined towards the upper part of the neck. In this respect 

 the Monosomian iiiust prove more troublesome sometimes than the 

 Sysomian monster. In the majority of cases the presentation is 

 anterior. 



An examination will reveal the existence of this condition, when the 

 obstetrist will adopt the measures necessary for extraction. In very 

 many of the cases embryotomy will have to be resorted to, or even the 

 Caesarian section. Decapitation of one or both heads may sometimes 

 suffice. In other cases judicious manipulation and well-timed traction 

 will effect delivery. When the heads are united at the cranium (as in 

 Figs. 116 and 119), and it is impossible to decapitate, the obstetrical 

 saw, chisel, or bone forceps may be usefully employed to disunite them 

 at their junction. 



With double necks, amputation of one head and neck should be 

 effected as low down as possible. 



Celosomian Monstrosities. 



Those creatures which are more or less destitute of abdominal and 

 thoracic parietes, and otherwise deformed in various degrees, would 

 appear to be somewhat frequently met with by the veterinary obstetrist. 

 The above designation for them will be recognised as that bestowed by 

 G. Saint-Hilaire, the name proposed by Gurlt being Scliistosoinus reflexiis 

 or contorUis (Fig. 107). They also are found more often in the Cow 

 than in other animals, the Sheep being next in order of frequency. 

 Of seventy-one monstrosities referred to by Saint-Cyr, twenty-three 

 belonged to this order, and of these twenty-one were Calves, and only 

 one Lamb and one Kid. Our own figures place the proportion of Calves 

 much higher. 



Perhaps this relative frequency is at least partly due to the fact, that 

 the singularity of the malformation is so striking that observers are 

 more ready to publish cases of this kind ; while parturition being always 

 more or less laborious, empirics who may chance to be called in cannot 

 understand the anomaly, and the veterinary surgeon has at last to be 

 sent for. 



Diagnosis. 



The diagnosis of this malformation is not difficult to the practised 

 obstetrist. If the foetal intestines are apparent at the genital orifice of 

 the mother, their small size indicates at once that they are those of the 

 foetus ; while an exploration of the vagina and uterus will discover the 

 distorted body, with the viscera unprotected and floating freely about. 

 When nothing is visible externally, of course the diagnosis is more 

 difficult ; and this difficulty is increased with certain presentations and 

 positions of the foetus. When, for instance, this is anterior, and the 

 spine is greatly distorted, the hand will first meet the head, and around 

 it all the feet (Fig. 123) ; it will be in vain for the obstetrist to attempt 

 to separate these and push back the posterior limbs in order to put the 

 foetus in a good position, as the rigidity of the crooked spine prevents 

 this being accomplished. In other cases the presentation may be 

 abdominal or posterior, and then the hand encounters a confused, soft, 

 floating mass of viscera, the nature of which is not easily ascertained. 

 However, the feel of the intestines should lead to a suspicion of the case, 

 while the twisted spine, deformed pelvis, and general distortion ought 



