Cords, Bands and /falters 577 



is advantageous to use various sized cords because they may 

 thus be more readily distinguishable from each other. When 

 severe traction is required, a J/2 in. rope may be found necessary. 



The ropes should be prepared carefully and should preferably 

 be sterilized or disinfected in advance and carefully wrapped in 

 impervious paper in such a way that they will not become con- 

 taminated before ready for use. They should be made in suffi- 

 cient numbers, according to the volume of the practitioner's 

 obstetric work, and should be ready when wanted. 



Other veterinarians use and advise bands of various kinds, 

 such as are shown in Fig. 91, c, and d, instead of cords. 

 These are more difficult to obtain, are expensive, and have no 

 advantage in efficiency. They may wound or abrade the genital 

 passage of the mother somewhat less, but the difference is not 

 important, and the cotton cord which is twisted only moderately 

 hard meets the requirements quite fully in reference to this dan- 

 ger. Some writers claim that a cord with a running noose may 

 injure the part of the fetus to which it has been attached, but 

 this we have never observed. Others prefer a leather band, but, 

 while this is efficient in many respects, it does not keep its hold 

 upon a part as well as a cord and it is highly expensive and 

 cannot be readily sterilized. 



Halters, h. Fig. gi, are recommended by many obstetrists, 

 where the traction is to be applied to the head, but these are ex- 

 ceedingly difficult of adjustment and are but little, if any, supe- 

 rior in efficiency to the simple cord or to the hook. They are 

 expensive, and the difficulty of rendering them sterile constitutes 

 a formidable objection to their repeated use. Numerous head 

 collars or halters are described by various veterinary obstetrists, 

 such as those of Binz, Rueff, and others, while for the smaller 

 animals Binz recommends what is ternjed a forceps-band. 



When the halter has been applied to the head of the fetus it 

 possesses an advantage over the simple noose around the neck 

 because, if the halter stale pulls upon the chin of the fetus, it 

 tends to keep the head in a direct line, which favors its passage 

 through the canal. Even with the halter adjusted in the best 

 possible way, the simple cord can be so applied that it fully 

 answers the same purpose. If we take a long cord and apply it 

 as a noose about the neck of the fetus with the loop in the region 

 of the larynx, we can then place a half-hitch aiound the nose in 

 37 



