MECHANICAL EXTRACTION OF THE F(ETUS. r,17 



afiforJ excellent hold for hooks, thouj^h caro must be observed in placing 

 them securely, and guarding them when they are beinj; pulled at. 



4. The Pelris.— 'In posterior presentations, when cords cannot be 

 employed to tlie hind-limbs, the loins, or the croup, or when they have 

 not surticient power, then crotchets must be resorted to ; and with this 

 view the fct'tal pelvis offers several very advantageous points. After 

 removal of one or both hind-limbs, the cotijloid cavities, by their depth 

 and the hardness of their walls, are admirably adapted for receiving 

 the hooks and withstanding energetic pulling. If both limbs arc 

 amputated from the hip-joints, then a hook may be placed in (sach 

 cavity ; if ablation of only one limb has been effected, then one hook 

 will be most useful. 



1\\e pubic arch and the oval foramina of the pelvis are likewise well 

 suited for crotchet traction in the posterior presentation, when the 

 fo-tus is dead. In some cases the shari)-pointed crotchet may be passed 

 directly through the rectum, and pushed forward so as to seize the 

 border'of the pubis, the margin of one of the oval foramina, the base 

 of the sacrum, or the shaft of the ilium ; care being taken that the 

 l)oint does not pass through the skin. Or the crotchet may be passed 

 from without inwards — the safest method — after the pelvic bones have 

 been denuded as much as possible of their soft tissues. This is, 

 perhaps, the most practicable method, if the hind-limbs have been 

 already removed. But if they have not, then all the soft tissues of the 

 foetus— from the root of the tail to the ischial arch— should be largely 

 incised, and the hand passed through the incision into the pelvis, to 

 remove the viscera. The crotchet is then pushed into it, and planted 

 either on the brim of the pubis or in the oval foramen. 



SECTION IV.— CROTCHET-FORCEPS AND FORCEPS. 



The introduction of forceps into human obstetricy marked a new era 

 in the accoucheur's art, and has been productive of the greatest benefit 

 in difficult cases of parturition in women. But they have not yielded 

 much service to the veterinary obstetrist, except with the smaller 

 animals; notwithstanding that llurtrel d'Arboval, at the commence- 

 ment of this century, asserted of the forceps that there are circum- 

 stances in which great advantages might be derived from them, and that 

 their use is perhaps the best means of completing parturition when it 

 cannot be terminated naturally, etc. Attempts have been made at 

 various times to introduce them into general use for the larger 

 domesticated animals, and various models — more or less modifications 

 of the human patterns — have been proposed, but with very little, if 

 any, success. 



The forceps used by the accoucheur of woman are, as is well known, 

 composed of two branches or blades, which are nearly or quite alike, 

 and form levers of the first order ; they are united at the middle by a 

 fixed or sliding joint, and one end — the " bow," or widest part — which 

 is intended to grasp the foetus, is fenestrated, or perforated by a wide 

 opening ; at the other end is the handle. 



The reason why forceps have never come into general use in veterinary 

 obstetrical operations — except with the smaller animals — is not so much 

 from a prejudice against novelties and innovations, as because they 

 are really not adapted for this kind of practice, unless in a very 



