General Handling of Dystokia 629 



injury, in so far as her general appearance is concerned, but she 

 must be forever left with an immense hernia which virtually de- 

 stroys her value in any position where appearances have any 

 weight. Hence, although the life of the mare may be saved, her 

 value is usually destroyed. But she may have a temporary value 

 for raising the foal which is to be born at the time, or even a 

 permanent value if the owner does not object to the appearances. 



The obstetrist must also reach as reliable a conclusion as pos- 

 sible in reference to the life of the fetus, and determine if it is 

 possible to save it or not. We have already suggested that the foal 

 perishes quickly when expulsive efforts set in, while the calf does 

 not, and this and other known facts should be considered in de- 

 termining the probability of extracting the fetus in a living con- 

 dition, if it is still alive when the veterinarian reaches the patient- 

 In the mare, if the obstacles to birth are of such a character that 

 much time will inevitably be demanded to overcome them, it is 

 quite clear that a living foal is not to be expected, and conse- 

 quently, if conditions so indicate, the veterinarian is fully war- 

 ranted in proceeding at once with embryotomy. 



Sometimes the obstacles are such that we may be able to save 

 the life of either the mother or fetus equally well, but cannot 

 save both. In such instances the veterinarian is placed in a 

 position where it is necessary to consider which of the animals, 

 the mother or the fetus, possesses the greater value, and the life 

 of which can be most certainly saved. The decision must largely 

 rest with the owner, though the veterinarian needs be in a posi- 

 tion to place the question clearly before him. 



Having reached a satisfactory diagnosis and prognosis, the 

 veterinarian needs determine upon a definite plan of procedure, 

 and this may be either tentative or final. Generally speaking, 

 the veterinarian must consider the consequences of his plan upon 

 the mother and the fetus, the amount of labor which will devolve 

 upon him, and the consequent economic feature to the owner. 



In many cases it is desirable to adopt a tentative plan of pro- 

 cedure, with an alternate final operation in case the first should 

 fail. It is essential that the tentative plan should possess 

 certain definite possibilities, and consequently offer hope of 

 a favorable solution. We might illustrate this by compar- 

 ing two analogous positions in the foal and calf. In each 

 of these, in the anterior presentation and dorso-sacral position, 

 the head is frequently deviated laterally. In the calf the neck 



