DYSTOKIA DUE TO THE HIXDLIMHS. 



431 



extraction. In this particular fonn of dystokia, the life of the mother 

 may be preserved by timely and rational intervention ; while violent and 

 improper interference, even iit the earliest period, may be followed by 

 serious, if not fatal, consequences. 



The distinction between this form of dystokia and tlie last is, accord- 

 ing to Saint-Cyr, not ditlicult. When the fcctus is expelled as far as 

 the loins, then it is the stifles whicli arc the cause of obstruction ; but 

 when only the anterior part of the thorax appears at the vulva, we may 

 be certain it is not these articulations. When the feet are not visible, 

 then a manual exploration is necessary. 



With regard to preserving the foetus, the prognosis must generally be 

 unfavourable. The Foal is, in nearly every case, certain to perish at an 

 early period, from compression of its body or the umbilical cord ; and 

 though the Calf is more tenacious of life, and may continue to exist for 



Trrrrrm 



Fig. 126. 

 HiND-LiMn Dkviation : .Vstehior Preskntation. 



some time, yet in the majority of cases it succumbs, or it has to bo 

 sacrificed to save the mother, which, if the practitioner can render aid 

 sufficiently early, may survive. 



Indications. — In nearly every case the preservation of the mother is 

 the first object to be attained, the life of the foetus — if it be living when 

 the veterinary surgeon is called in — being quite a secondary considera- 

 tion ; though it must be admitted that if he is present when it is still 

 vigorous and not much engaged in the pelvic cavity, there is no reason 

 why it should not be extracted alive. The indication is, of course, to 

 rectify the deviation of the hind-limbs ; and if the fatus is not too far 

 advanced in the genital canal, this maybe accomplished by pushing it, if 

 need be, towards the uterus, and introducing the hand between it and the 

 wall of the vagina (often a most difficult matter), to carry the hind-feet 

 back — one after another — into the uterine cavity, either by the hand or 



