204 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



belly, and pull out the entire breastbone. Having torn out the heart 

 and lungs with the hand, make the rib cartilages on the one side over- 

 lap those on the other, so as to lessen the thickness of the chest, and 

 proceed to extract the body. If it seems needful to empty the abdo- 

 men as well, it is easy to reach it by cutting through the. diaphragm, 

 which separates it from the chest. 



DELIVERY THROUGH THE PLANK (CESAREAN SECTION, OR 

 LAPAROTOMY). 



This is sometimes demanded, when the distortion and narrowing of 

 the hip bones are such as to forbid the passage of the calf, or when 

 inflammation has practically closed the natural passages and the 

 progeny is more valuable and worthy of being saved than the dam ; 

 also in cases in which the cow has been fatally injured, or is ill beyond 

 possibility of recovery and yet carries a living calf. It is too often a 

 last resort after long and fruitless efforts to deliver by the natural 

 channels, and in such cases the saving of the calf is all that can be 

 expected, the exhausted cow, already the subject of active inflamma- 

 tion, and too often also of putrid poisoning, is virtually beyond hope. 

 The hope of saving the dam is greatest if she is in good health and 

 not fatigued, in cases, for example, in which the operation is resorted 

 to on account of broken hip bones or abnormally narrow passages. 



The stock owner will not attempt such a serious operation as this. 

 Yet, where the mother has just died or is to be immediately sacrificed, 

 no one should hesitate at resorting to it in order to save the calf. If 

 alive it is important to have the cow perfectly still. Her left fore leg 

 being bent at the knee by one person, another may seize the left horn 

 and nose and turn the head to the right until the nose rests on the 

 spine just above the shoulder. The cow will sink down gently on her 

 left side without shock or struggle. One may now hold the head 

 firmly to the ground, while a second, carrying the end of the tail from 

 behind forward on the inside of the right thigh, pulls upon it so as to 

 keep the right hind limb well raised from the ground. If time presses 

 she may be operated on in this position, or if the cow is to be sacri- 

 ficed a blow on the head with an ax will secure quietude. Then the 

 prompt cutting into the abdomen and womb and the extraction of the 

 calf requires no skill. If, however, the cow is to preserved, her two 

 fore feet and the lower hind one should be safely fastened together 

 and the upper hind one drawn back. Two ounces chloral hydrate, 

 given by injection, should induce sleep in twenty minutes and the 

 operation may proceed. In case the cow is to be preserved, wash the 

 right flank and apply a solution of 4 grains of corrosive sublimate in 

 a pint of water. 



Then, with an ordinary scalpel or knife dipped in the above solu- 

 tion, make an incision from 2 inches below and in front of the outer 

 angle of the hip bone in a direction downward and slightly forward to 

 a distance of 12 inches. Cut through the muscles, and more carefully 



