DYSTOKIA DUE TO TUE HEAD. 451 



Indications. — The principal indication in this deviation is, of course, 

 to get hold of the head, if possible, adjust and bring it into a favour- 

 able position in the genital canal, and then etVect delivery. This is on 

 the supposition that the head is accessible ; but when such is not the 

 case, then it is dillicult, if not impossible, to straighten the neck, and 

 especially if the curvature is due to contraction. When we come to 

 treat of obstetrical operations, reference will be made to this straighten- 

 ing of the neck. 



When it is found impossible, or not advisable, to attempt adjustment 

 of the head and neck, then recourse must be had to forced extraction 

 or cmhriiotomii. 



With regard to forced extraction in the Cow, though instances are 

 recorded in which it has been successfully practised, yet it should 

 never be resorted to by the humane pi-actitioner.i The gi*eat length 

 and essentially bony structure of the Cow's pelvis, and the large 

 volume and shape of the Calf's head, prove such an obstacle to forced 

 extraction in this lateral deviation, that, if persisted in, it will not only 

 cause the death of the mother, in all probability, but also that of the 

 foetus, unless it is unusually small and the pelvis of the Cow very 

 wide. In fact, those who have attempted it testify to its barbarity 

 and fatality. 



With the Mare, the case is somewhat different. When the head of 

 the Foal is deeply buried towards its flank or croup, i-eduction is most 

 difficult, and requires long and laborious manipulations, which so irritate 

 the organs and exhaust the strength of the mother, that death not 

 infrequently results. In most cases, too, the obstetrist is called in 

 when the Foal is dead, so that there is no necessity for scruples with 

 regard to it. On the other hand, as we have previously said, the long, 

 thin, and flexible neck and narrow and tapering head readily allow 

 the latter to become embedded in the flank, and thus to offer much less 

 resistance than with the Calf ; while the wider pelvis of the Mare 

 offers further facilities. Numerous instances are given in which forcible 

 extraction of the Foal with the head so deviated, has been attended 

 with complete success — Darreau had eight out of ten cases — and with- 

 out much suffering on the part of the Mare. Indeed, so successful and 

 prompt is it, that Donnarieix, who has devoted much attention to this 

 procedure, says it should, as a rule, be adopted in these cases, as it is 

 not possible to restore the head to its normal position ; delivery by 

 vigorous traction is, if not easy, at least most frequently followed by 

 success. 



Donnarieix operates as follows : The Mare is thrown down near the 

 stable door, the thighs pi'opped against the threshold, and a breeching 

 and side-line, fixed to the wall or held by assistants, may be employed 

 to keep the animal in position. Each fore-limb of the foetus is corded 

 at the pasterns, the cords being confided to assistants, the number of 

 which will vary according to the amount of resistance — four at least 

 are necessary, and sometimes six or eight. On the word being given, 

 these men pull slowly, steadily and gradually, without jerking, but 



' Franck (op. cit., p. 373) gives an instance in which two empirics attempted to 

 deliver a Cow that could not calve. They mistook this deviation for a breech presenta- 

 tion, as they could not find the head, and they thought the fore-feet in the vagina were 

 hind ones. They c<insequently, other means failing, set about extracting the Calf by 

 force, and eight men pulled at the cords attached to the feet ; the young creature was 

 removed, but it was dead. The Cow was unable to get up for eight days, but eventually 

 recovered. 



