498 ' SURGICAL DISEASES. 



upon the abdomen ; and it is manifest that she has another fcetus 

 within her. I ordered a dose of the ergot, and in about twenty 

 minutes a. large puppy was produced,: nearly dying. She survived 

 with due care. 



" I cannot refrain from inserting the following case at consider- 

 able length : — 



"Sept. 4th, 1820. — A very diminutive terrier, weighing not 5 

 lbs., was sent to my hospital in order to lie in. She was already 

 restless and. panting. About eight o'clock at night the labour 

 pains commenced ; but until eleven scarcely any progress was 

 made. The os uteri would not admit my finger, although I fre- 

 quently attempted it. 



"At half-past eleven, the membranes began to protrude; at 

 one the head had descended into the pelvis and the puppy was 

 dead. In a previous labour she had been unable to produce her 

 young, although the ergot of rye had been freely used. I was 

 obliged to use considerable force, and she fought terribly with me 

 throughout the whole process. At half-past one, and after apply- 

 ing considerable force, I brought away a large fcetus, compared 

 with her own size. On passing my finger as high as possible, I 

 felt another foetus living, but the night passed and the whole of 

 the following day, and she ate and drank, and did not appear to 

 be much injured. 



" Several times in the day I gave her some strong soup and the 

 ergot. Some slight pains now returned, and by pressing on the 

 belly the nose of the foetus was brought to the superior edge of the 

 pelvis. The pains again ceased, the pudenda began to swell from 

 frequent examination, the bitch began to stagger, and made fre- 

 quent attempts to void her urine : with extreme difficulty in 

 accomplishing it. I now resorted to the crotchet ; and after many 

 unsuccessful attempts, in which the superior part of the vagina 



