PAETUEITION. 



SI 



blunt and pointed hooks. All the various instruments recom- 

 mended are at times serviceable, but the human hand is still the 

 finest instrument in creation, and invaluable in parturition, with 

 no other accessories than a cord such as a plough line. Patient, 

 persistent eft'ort will nearly always succeed in obstinate cases. The 

 head must be secured and brought into position. When this has 

 been done in a short time, and without much loss of moisture, an 

 interval of rest should be allowed before cording the fetlocks for 

 another effort at delivery. The ill-directed efforts of amateurs 



Fig. 154. — Sterno-abdominal position. 

 (From Fleming's " Veterinary Obsletrics.") 



often do much damage, and undisciplined assistants will jiull in 

 different directions, and in a zig-zag manner, despite tlie clearest 

 instructions. 



If the mare is standing, traction should be exerted in a down- 

 ward as well as backward direction, or if she be lying down, in a 

 downward manner still, the tendency on the part of helpers being 

 always to get too much off the floor. Traction should not be 

 continuous, but exerted each time the animal strives. If possible 

 the use of any other instrument than a crutch should be avoided, 

 as it is desired not only to deliver the foal alive but uninjured. 

 He will bear a good deal of pulling about with the hand, and 

 recover from the effects of the finger and thumb in his nostrils 



