678 
VETERINARY OBSTETRICY. 
Mr. J. Hayes, V.S., Rochdale (see VETERINARIAN, vol. 13, 
p. 268), was called in to attend a cow in labour, when, after having 
removed the fore extremities, he was unable to extract the foetus 
without performing the Caesarean operation, on account of the ex- 
cessive size of the head. The calf, when drawn out, had a strange 
appearance ; its head was more than twice its natural size, but its 
hind parts were so very small that they appeared as if wasted by 
abrasion, being no larger than the hind extremities of a common 
sized dog. 
Mr. Drourard, V.S., Montbard (VETERINARIAN, vol. 15, p. 376), 
was called to attend a mare nine or ten years old labouring under 
difficult parturition : it was a breech presentation. After great labour 
and patience he removed the hind extremities, and then, by inserting 
hooks into the acetabular cavities, the foetus was drawn along the 
vagina with great facility, until the head was brought into the 
pelvis, and seemed to present an insuperable obstacle to the ac- 
complishment of the operation. The hand was introduced into the 
uterine cavity, and a monstrous head was recognised, in which 
considerable fluctuation was readily detected, and left no doubt of 
the existence of hydrocephalus. He was preparing to puncture it, 
when his assistants, profiting by an effort of the mare, pulled 
altogether so strongly, that they brought it out, and a cranium of 
such monstrous size was scarcely ever seen before. The foetus was 
remarkably deformed. It was small and poor, but its cranial cavity 
was in every part strangely developed, and more on the right side 
than on the left. On the least displacement of the head, he could 
both see and feel the fluctuation of the fluid within. 
I have in my possession a monstrosity of a pig that was brought 
forth by a sow, without any assistance rendered to her. It has two 
distinct heads, and its body is single, and is as large and perfect as 
possible. There are four eyes, three ears, four legs, and a body. 
It measures from the outside of one snout to the outside of the other 
four-and-a-half inches, and must have been an immense size to pass 
without assistance, especially as the snouts point and diverge 
outwards, and would abut against the vagina ; but the probability is 
that it was a breech presentation, by which means it would pass 
more readily. From my observations, I am inclined to think that 
almost as many pigs come into the world with the hind parts first 
as the contrary way. 
Method of Extraction. 
In the cow and the mare we must, in the first place, remove one 
or both of the fore extremities, and then fasten a cord around the 
neck ; after which we may put hooks into the orbits, maxillary 
