Exercises in Mutations and Embryotomy 66 1 



anterior, and apparently normal, but the calf was somewhat large 

 and it was necessary to apply traction. A local practitioner 

 hitched a horse to the calf, and succeeded in advancing it until 

 the fetal and maternal ilia became interlocked. The fetus was 

 then cut in two in the dorso-lumbar region, and the posterior 

 portion remained in the uterus. With our inexperience, we failed 

 to accomplish delivery. 



Various courses might have been successfully pursued. It 

 would not have been difficult to have reached into the fetal pelvis 

 and engaged it with a blunt hook fixed over the posterior border 

 of an iliac shaft. Holding the fetal remnant securely by means 

 of the hook or, if preferred, by a cord passing around the iliac 

 shaft, we could place the chisel against the other iliac shaft and 

 divide it. Next we could place the chisel o'pposite the pelvic 

 symphysis or the foramen ovale, and again divide the pelvis on 

 the median side of the hip joint. We could then loop a cord 

 about the isolated segment of the pelvis and, exerting traction 

 thereon, remove it, with the hind limb. The remnant would 

 then be easily extracted, since the size of the croup would have 

 been reduced one-half. 



Complications of the greatest variety may thus arise, and are 

 to be met by judicious planning and having the necessary instru- 

 ments and appliances at hand for carrying out the work. 



Exercises in the Mutations op the Fetus and in 

 Embryotomy. 



The veterinarian who attends a case of dystokia, without having 

 first learned by personal experience the mechanism by which 

 dystokia is to be overcome, always labors under a serious handi- 

 cap. Every veterinarian, before entering upon an obstetric 

 practice, should make himself personally familiar with the various 

 operations which he may be called upon to perform in the over- 

 coming of dystokia. Each of these operations may be planned 

 and carried out without great difficulty, and in a manner which 

 will give to the veterinarian valuable training, which will prove 

 a great help to him in the actual work. 



Various plans are proposed and carried out with a view to 

 teaching these operations in an efficient manner. 



