460 BOVINE PATHOLOGY. 



bony edges. Care must be taken with the embryotomy 

 knife, as with other instruments, lest injury of the uterine 

 walls result from a false stroke or a slip. This operation 

 is generally performed when the cow is in the recumbent 

 position, and she may be supported by occasional doses 

 of stimulants. It must be resorted to only when other 

 means fail, the foetus being too large for the passage or 

 inaccessible otherwise. It is generally best to sacrifice 

 the life of the foetus to save that of the mother. In all 

 obstetric operations great care must be exercised to avoid 

 injury of the uterine walls ; the feet when moved, must be 

 taken into the hand and then gently drawn round. Again, 

 it is always necessary to carefully examine the contents 

 of the uterus. The two legs projecting with the head, 

 may be not such as are most convenient for easy removal, 

 as seen in cases of curved spine and many-limbed animals. 

 Again, the projecting feet may belong to distinct animals. 



Twins. — The presence of two calves in the uterus being 

 so frequent, we should always after removal of one look 

 for a second. They generally lie in reverse positions ; one 

 being presented in the ordinary way, the other with its 

 hind legs first. Twins are usually small, and therefore 

 do not cause much difficulty in expulsion. They are apt 

 to become fixed together in the genital passages. In such 

 cases, the state of affairs having been clearly ascertained, 

 the fore legs of the normally presented calf are to be secured 

 with ropes, and, these being kept tight, the other calf is 

 forced back into the uterus. The first can then be 

 removed in the usual way, and the second will generally 

 follow. 



Diseases of the foetal membranes are not very fre- 

 quent, but some few are on record. 



Cases of Dropsy op the Amnion — Hydramnios — are 

 some-what often seen in the cow, they give rise to undue 

 distension, which may lead to abortion, or to over-dis- 

 tension of the uterine walls with corresponding inertia. 

 The accumulated fluid is described as sometimes resem- 

 bling Vitreous Humour in its characters. The causes of 

 this condition are ill-ascertained, and its diagnosis from 



