dASTROHYSTEnuTDM V. :.:..'. 



attempted it on the X\v\x\^ animal, though unsuccessfully. Moranf:;e 

 operated on a Cow, and it was to all appearance in a fair way to 

 recovery, when it succumbed to an attack of indigestion caused by 

 improper feeding. About the same period, Rohlwes^ operated on a 

 Mare. 



Since that time gastro-hysterotomy has been practised comparatively 

 often, both in this country and on the Continent ; and there can 

 scarcely be a doubt that it was mainly indebted to its general intro- 

 duction, as an obstetric operation, to the fact that the abdomen of 

 animals could be opened with impunity in such operations as ovario- 

 tomy (spaying) in Swine and other creatures ; as well as from the 

 experience that, in abdominal hernia in the pregnant animal, the 

 ftt'tus had been often extracted in this way and the mother did not 

 succumb. 



Gastro-hysterotomy has been practised both on the large and small 

 <lomesticated animals, but perhaps with most success on the latter. In 

 4S cases of this operation, Franck finds that 25 — or 52 per cent. — had a 

 fatal termination. Saint-Cyr, from a smaller number makes the mortality 

 71 per cent. Franck can only note three instances in the Mare, and 

 they were all fatal, though the Foals were saved. For the Cow he has 

 17 instances ; G of these recovered (one of them, however, was 

 .Morange's, which died from overfeeding fifteen days after the opera- 

 tion, and another was Sacchero's, which was sent to the butcher in six 

 days). This gives 35 per cent, saved, and G5 per cent. lost. In three 

 Sheep there were no recoveries, and in two Goats only one. With the 

 Pig the operation appears to have been wonderfully successful. In S 

 instances all recovered — a result Franck is inclined to attribute to the 

 ■different arrangement — or rather attachment — of the placenta, which 

 renders this animal less liable to septic infection through injury to the 

 uterus. With the Bitch, the mortality is about the same as in the 

 Bovine species ; in 15 cases 6 — 40 per cent. — lived. Franck thinks this 

 percentage might be much increased if the operation were performed on 

 the right side and antiseptic treatment adopted, or, if necessary, even 

 •extirpation of the uterus ; as putrid infection readily occurs in the Dog. 



With regard to saving the young, the operation is not very favourable. 

 In nearly all the instances in which the parent recovered, the progeny 

 has been dead, or died ; and in only 4 of Franck's cases were the parents, 

 and one or more of the young creatures, saved. Three of these cases 

 were Bitches, and the other was a Sow. 



With the Cow, the Calf is often saved, while the parent dies. Of 

 7 instances, the Calves were extracted alive in 6. 



With the Mare, the operation must be resorted to early in order to 

 save the Foal, as, for the reasons already given, it perishes quickly. 



It is only on a knowledge of the length of time the foetus may live 

 during parturition, or after the death of the parent, that the operation 

 can be undertaken with any prospect of success — so far as obtaining it 

 alive is concerned ; and this is an important consideration with regard 

 to the Bovine species. Kehrers, in his obser^-ations on the Bitch, found 

 that three minutes after death the fa-tus began to show symptoms of 

 asphyxia, and in thirty-six minutes it was dead. In pregnant Cows 

 and Sheep which were slaughtered, the fa'tus moved about in a very 

 lively manner for eight to ten minutes, but death ensued soon after. 



Sauer observed an unusual instance of fcetal vitality in a Bitch which 



1 D<M Ganze der Thierhfillunde, 1822, p. 143. 



