DYSTOKIA DUE T<> THE HEAD. 443 



afjain attempted. If the fcetus does not come away, evisceration 

 of the chest and abdomen may be practised. Should dehvery be still 

 impossible (which is unlikely), the limb must be detached at the 

 shoulder and tlie trunk withdrawn from the uterus, the leg being 

 extracted afterwards. 



When one limb protrudes with the head, it may be removed subcu- 

 taneously at the shoulder, as it is easier accomplished than amputation 

 of the retained limb. 



SECTION II.— DYSTOKIA DUE TO THE HEAD. 



Obstacles to parturition from a wrong direction of the head are 

 <iuite as frequent as, and more serious than, those due to misdirection 

 of the fore-limbs. It is stated that they occur oftener in the Mare than 

 the Cow, but this is questionable ; though in the former animal they 

 are more embarrassing, as in consequence of the longer neck of the 

 ftt-tus the head can be carried back much farther — even as far as the 

 riank, while with the Calf it seldom goes much beyond the shoulder.^ 

 The complication is all the more serious in the Mare from the fact, as 

 has so often been stated, that obstetrical manoeuvres in this animal are 

 much more difficult than in the Cow : the straining being far more 

 violent — paralysing arms and hands — while the impatience and restless- 

 ness are generally so great, that it is often necessary to throw it down 

 before anything can be done in the way of adjustment. 



Misdirection of the head usually takes place immediately preceding 

 or during parturition, under the influence of irregular and energetic 

 uterine contractions before the os is sulliciently dilated ; it is supposed 

 sometimes to be due to premature escape of the " waters," to injudicious 

 manipulation of the fore-limbs, maltraction, etc. Some of the cases, 

 however, have doubtless occurred long before the period of parturition, 



' Since allusion was made to dystokia from excess in volume of the head of the fa-tus 

 (p. 374), Cv lin, of Wassy, has puhliwhed an instnictive jiaper on the subject (Journal dt 

 Mid. Veterinnire tt df Zooftc/iuii, Nov., 1876, p. 5".i0), which deserves notice here. 

 Observing that in very bony Cows the size of the Calf's head is often an obstacle to par- 

 turition — especially in primiparre and in the jHra.t.iii/iif breed of cattle — while it is rare 

 in improved breeds, in which the head i.s small, he describes the nature of the obstacle, 

 and remarks that, if traction is ventured u]>on to extract the fatus, it must be very 

 violent, and therefore likely to j)roduce serious, if not irreparable injury. To avert this, 

 he insists <>n putting Schaack's head-collar on the fotus, or a cord placed l)ehin(l the ears, 

 then each side looj)ed roimd the lower jaw, to answer the same ptirpose. The head being 

 thus secured, the protruding limbs are pushed forward into the uterus, after a cord has 

 been fixed U> each p.'istem. If the genital j)assage is dry, oil is jilentifully injected into 

 it Traction being then exerted on the head, this readily clears the inlet of the maternal 

 pelvis, its fiiniensions being no longer increa-ned by the addition of the limbs ; it is drawn 

 well into the j>elvic cavity, and then the fore-limbs are easily brought through the inlet, 

 now only occupied by the neck of the fcttus. The head and feet are afterwards simul- 

 taneousl}- drawn towards the vulva, and it is rare, if the traction is judicious, that delivery 

 is not promptly effected. 



Through having neglected the precaution of first pushing the fore-limbs into the uterus, 

 Colin, at the commencement of his career, in 1853, lost two Cows. Since that time, in 

 more than two hundred ca-ses, he has been succes-sful in delivering the Calf without 

 resorting to embryotomy. Success is always certain, pronded incomjH't'-nt persons have 

 not previously rendered it imjwssible. He recommends the same procedure in spasm of 

 the cervix uteri, after reduction of torsion of the uterus, and in fcetal hydrocephalus. In 

 the latter, puncture of the cranium is easier if the fore-limbe have been previously 

 poshed into the utems. 



