FETAL DYSTOKIA. 



In veterinary obstetrics, abnormalities in the form or attitude 

 of the fetus furnish by far the most numerous instances of dys- 

 tokia. The ways in which the fetus may serve as an obstacle to- 

 its own expulsion from the uterus are exceedingly varied, and 

 may be dependent upon something abnormal in the fetus itself, 

 due to arrest in development, to disease during its intra-uterine- 

 life, or to its death and decomposition ; or it may be due t& 

 some deviation in its attitude when approaching the birth canal, 

 which may render its passage difficult or impossible. 



It is convenient for the proper study of these difficulties that 

 they be divided into groups dependent somewhat upon their 

 character. These may be synoptically outlined as follows : 



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