PARTURITION. 



579 



turnino; round to lick, and at intervals admire her foal, the 

 umbilical cord is ruptured, and with but the slightest hpemorrhage, 

 as it has been undergoing changes which prepare it for disruption. 

 The rough way in which it gets broken is better than the ligatures 

 used in human practice, neither do we, as veterinary surgeons, 

 exert traction upon the broken cord to facilitate removal of the 

 placenta from the dam ; the uterine contractions which follow 

 are usually enough, and if not, assistance may be given the next 

 day by injecting a quart or two of warm water witli a little 



F^S- 153- — Lumbo-sacral position. 

 {From FUjnmgs " Veterinary Obstetrics.^^) 



Condy's fluid, and then witli two sticks, rolling over and over 

 each other the membranes which have been fixed between them. 

 The attachment is not as a rule very strong in mares, but 

 hiBmorrhage is easily excited if force is used too soon after 

 foaling. The membranes not infrequently come with the foal, not 

 having emptied themselves of their fluid completely, and there are 

 cases where the foal's life has been lost for want of a little timely 

 help in freeing him. Mares, like other animals, will sometimes 

 eat these fcetal envelopes. 



A policy of non-intervention in the cow is to be impressed upon 

 amateurs and young practitioners, but there is a wide difference in 

 the mare ; as already said she generally is her own accoucheur, 



37* 



