Functions of the Generative Organs. 151 



is intended to assist the pressure of the thumb when this is 

 insufficient (Fig. 1 3). A finger of the other hand intro- 

 duced into the vagina guides the instrument, and allows 

 the part of the fcetus to be seized to be reached by the 

 operator, either with the view of extracting the young 

 creature or changing its position, according to the indica- 

 tions. 



"Defays concludes that the forceps employed by veterinary 

 surgeons in the accouchement of the smaller animals should 

 not be merely a reduction in size of those employed in 

 human practice, but ought to be something like that of 

 Palfin. It is most difficult, he truly says, to apply an in- 

 strument in shape like that of the accoucheur's ordinary 

 forceps, owing to the neck of the fcetus in carnivora being 

 so thick, and the difference in volume between it and the 

 head far less than in the human foetus ; so that, when the 

 forceps is used, the ends of the blades press on the neck, 

 slip under the throat, and the head escapes from them. To- 

 remedy this imperfection he has made forceps with the 

 extremity of the blades notched or hollowed out (Fig. 14)^ 

 while the head of one of the branches has a piece of metal 

 with a slot in it, attached by a hinge, and which is intended 

 to hold the blades together when the foetus is seized. 



" Though this forceps has sometimes proved of service, 

 yet cases occur in which it is not so useful. 



" When the bitch is large, or of moderate size, forceps 

 may be employed with advantage, though they must be of 

 various dimensions. But when the animal is very small, as 

 is usually the case in difficult parturition in this species, the 

 space occupied by the bows of the forceps — if they are 

 ever so thin — so increases the volume of the mass which 

 has to pass through the pelvic canal, that this instrument 

 cannot be used. 



" As we pointed out when studying the anatomy of the 

 region, the pelvis is cylindrical in carnivora, and if we 

 suppose its diameter to be three inches, and that of the 



