148 THE MANAGEMENT AND DISEASES OF THE DOG. 



be reached by the operator, either with the view of extracting 

 the young creature or changing its position, according to the 

 indications. 



" Defays concludes that the forceps employed by veteri- 

 nary 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 instru- 

 ment 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 

 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 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 this 

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

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

 fostus a trifle less, it will be seen that birth must necessarily 

 be -difficult ; and this difficulty will be increased if the vagina 

 is narrow and rigid. When tht forceps is used, the difficulty 

 is further exaggerated ; for when the blades are passed on the 



