548 FARTHER REMARKS ON BREECH PRESENTATION IN COWS. 
ever way the hook be grasped, it is only for the purpose of 
reaching the foot; and whenever the operator can reach the foot 
and flex the pastern, he shortens the leg, allowing it to pass the 
brim of the pelvis; and he will find, whenever he can so flex it, 
the most difficult part of the work is accomplished. Both hands 
and arms are seldom necessary ; and unless, in putting back the 
legs, drawing the cords, &c. according to the directions of the 
operator, no two persons can, with beneficial effect, work together 
in such cases ; and any piece of iron, or instrument, such as de- 
scribed in Mr. B.’s letter, may look well enough upon paper, or 
sound well enough before students in a lecture-room, but in practice 
it would require to be used with more caution than can be expected 
from many of the assistants with whom we are brought in con- 
tact ; and were any assistant to be pushing forcibly with such an 
instrument while the operator was exerting the whole of his strength 
to bring the calf into proper position, rupture of the uterus would, 
in many cases, be the inevitable consequence. I wish it to be 
understood that it was calves in the cases referred to, and not 
foetuses ; i. e. calves at or beyond the full period of gestation. 
When Mr. B. says, “ it is a difficult task to remove the hind 
extremities, in consequence of the quantity of muscle required to 
be cut through before arriving at the articulation,” it appears to 
me he supposes I cut from inside the thigh upwards; instead of 
which, I make a circular incision immediately 
above the trochanter major into the superior 
edge of the acetabulum, and a longitudinal 
incision from that downwards, in the direction 
of the femur, and into that bone, as repre- 
sented by the accompanying diagram. In a 
calf, at this time, there is very little muscle in 
the way that requires cutting through. I pass 
my fingers through the muscles until I get 
them round the shank of the bone, around 
which I put a small cord with a running eye. An assistant pull- 
ing tightly at this cord, stretches as much as possible the capsular 
ligament, which is divided, as also the ligament connecting the 
femur with the bottom of the acetabulum ; the rope is then pulled 
forcibly, and the leg brought out with perfect ease. If there be any 
ligaments undivided, they are easily found, as the leg is pulled 
outwards ; but the muscles, being soft, can be torn with the fingers, 
and there is no more occasion for cutting in amputation of the hind 
leg than there is in the fore, where the leg is brought away with 
the scapula. 
In the concluding part of his letter, Mr. Barlow says, “ he will 
not resort to the knife till all other means fail.” In this I beg 
entirely to differ with Mr. B. I have practised in an agricultural 
