163 



and binds a portion of the body of the foal firmly to the womb. In 

 such cases it has^repeatedly been found impossible to extract the foal 

 until such adhesions were broken down. If they can be reached with 

 the hand and recognized they may be torn through with the fingers or 

 with a blunt hook, after which delivery may be attempted with hope of 

 success. 



EXCESSIVE SIZE OF THE FCETUS. 



It would seem that a small mare may usually be safely bred to a 

 large stallion, yet this is not always the case, and when the small size is 

 an individual rather than a racial characteristic or the result of extreme 

 youth, the rule can not be expected to hold. There is always great 

 danger in breeding the young, small, and undeveloped female, and the 

 dwarfed representative of a larger breed, as the offspring tend to par- 

 take of the large race characteristics and to show them even prior to 

 birth. When impregnation has occurred in the very young or in the 

 dwarfed female, there are two alternatives — to induce abortion, or to 

 wait until there are attempts at parturition and to extract by embry- 

 otomy if impracticable otherwise. 



CONSTRICTION OF A MEMBER BY THE NAVEL STRING. 



In man and animals alike the winding of the umbilical cord round a 

 member of the foetus sometimes leads to the amputation of the latter. 

 It is also known to get wound around the neck or a limb at birth, but 

 in the mare this does not seriously impede parturition, as the loosely 

 attached membranes are easily separated from the womb and no stran- 

 gulation or retarding occurs. The foal may, however, die from the 

 cessation of the placental circulation unless it is speedily delivered. 



WATER IN THE HEAD (HYDROCEPHALUS) OF THE FOAL. 



This consists in the excessive accumulation of liquid in the ventricles 

 of the brain so that the cranial cavity is enlarged and constitutes a 

 great projecting rounded mass occupying the space from the eyes 

 upward. (See Plate XIV, Fig. 3.) With an anterior presentation (fore 

 feet and nose) this presents an insuperable obstacle to progress, as the 

 diseased cranium is too large to enter the pelvis at the same time with 

 the fore-arms. With a posterior presentation (hind feet) all goes well 

 until the body and shoulders have passed out, when progress is sud- 

 denly arrested by the great bulk of the head. In the first case, the 

 oiled hand introduced along the face detects the enormous size of the 

 head, which may be diminished by puncturing it with a knife or trochar 

 and cannula in the median line, evacuating the water and pressing in 

 the thin bony walls. With a posterior presentation, the same course 

 must be followed; the hand passed along the neck will detect the cranial 

 swelling, Avhich may be punctured with a knife or trochar. Oftentimes 

 with an anterior presentation the great size of the head leads to its 



