Functions of the Generative Organs. 15k 
is intended to assist the pressure of the thumb when this is 
insufficient (Fig. 13). A finger.of the other hand intro- 
duced into the vagina guides the instrument, and allows 
the part of the foetus 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 foetus in carnivora being 
so thick, and the difference in volume between it and the 
head far less oat the human foetus ; so that, when the 
forceps is used, fie 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 
