528 



OBS TETRICA L OPERA TIOAS. 



Generally, very little traction can be made because of the danger of 

 tearing the foetus in pieces, and what is employed should be gentle and 

 sustained ; indeed, the foetus should be held steady, traction only 

 made during the expulsive efforts of the mother, and then lightly and 

 steadily. 



SECTION III.— MEANS FOR DEVELOPING THE NECESSARY FORCE. 



Hitherto the employment of human or manual force in the extraction 

 of the foetus has only been considered, and this, of course, is that which 

 is generally resorted to at first. But it is not the only force that may 

 be employed, and especially if it is desirable to exercise very powerful 

 traction. It is true that empirics and amateurs have often adopted 

 the barbarous expedient of attaching the cords fixed on the foetus to a 

 Horse or Ox, and by making the latter exert its strength, to tear the 

 young creature through the maternal passage. Eainard mentions that 

 in the Camargue, those who have the charge of droves of Mares, not 

 having the services of a veterinary surgeon, yoke another Mare to the 

 cords they fasten on the foetus, and deliver the parturient animal in 



Fig. 196. 

 Obstetric Pulleys. 



this cruel fashion. Being destitute of anatomical knowledge, they act 

 blindly ; and not understanding how to adjust a malposition, the Foal 

 is nearly always extracted dead, and only too frequently the mother 

 perishes. 



With the object of extracting the foetus by force when manual 

 traction is not suificient, the ivmdlass, capstan, wheel, cart, and pulleys, 

 have frequently been used, and with great benefit. Many veterinarians 

 consider the employment of machines as barbarous as Ox or Horse 

 traction, but this opinion is scarcely just. They say such machines 

 are blind instruments which cannot be directed at will, and they prefer 

 increasing the number of men indefinitely rather than resort to them. 



But many of the most intelligent and experienced veterinary 

 obstetrists speak of the great utility of these machines ; and some of 

 them state that whenever the combined strength of six men is not 

 sufficient to extract the foetus from the larger animals, they do not 

 hesitate to employ one of these articles. Not only can a greater tractile 

 force be developed by them, but this force may be diminished or in- 

 creased at will, and as gradually as circumstances may require. In 

 this direction, though the windlass, capstan, or wheel may be utilised, 



