644 Veterinary Obstetrics 



ing the maternal organs, steady and direct the handle with the 

 other hand and have an assistant drive the chisel, by means of 

 blows of proper vigor with a mallet, into the bones of the face 

 and head. 



Do not drive the chisel deeper than the length of the blade, 

 without first stopping and forcibly revolving the instrument upon 

 its long axis and breaking the fetal bones apart. The partially 

 detached pieces of bone may be torn away with the fingers of one 

 hand, and the chisel used to complete the separation of the frag- 

 ment. Repeat the use of the chisel here and there upon the 

 head, as often as may be necessary in order to bring about the 

 required diminution, taking care, at all times, not to wound the 

 maternal parts and to conserve as far as practicable the fetal skin 

 of the face and head, in order that it may protect the maternal 

 parts from the jagged fetal bones during the remainder of the 

 operation. The removal of the partially detached pieces of bone 

 may in many cases be greatly facilitated by looping a cord over 

 them and having an assistant apply traction sufiicient to pull 

 them away, while the operator guards the maternal organs by 

 holding the piece of bone, during its detachment and extraction, 

 in the palm of his hand. 



In hydrocephalus the diminution of the head alone usually 

 removes the sole obstacle to delivery. The same is true occa- 

 sionally of beginning emphysema, where as yet only the head is 

 greatly involved. In other cases, the destruction of the head 

 and face does not wholly relieve the dystokia. It may be neces- 

 sary to continue the diminution by decreasing the volume of the 

 neck and body. The cervical vertebrae may be divided with the 

 chisel on their median line, the muscular and ligamentous at- 

 tachments broken down or cut with the chisel, and the bone frag- 

 ments secured in a rope noose and drawn away, covered by the 

 hand during their withdrawal. Later the fetal body may be 

 further diminished by subcutaneous amputation of the fore limbs 

 at the shoulder, evisceration, destruction of the pelvic girdle, or 

 other means to be later described. 



c. Amputation of the Head and Neck. In the anterior presentation, 

 when the head is completely deviated and it is impossible or impracticable 

 to return it to its normal position, some veterinary obstetrists advise that 

 the neck be severed and the head with the distal portion of the neck with- 

 drawn, after which the body of the fetus is extracted. 



