128 
SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF BELLADONNA. 
The owner, when he came for my asssistance, said that he be- 
lieved it was a case of “ horning up of the mouth of the calf-bed 
that she would have to be cut, and, being in great pain, he wished 
me to attend her as quickly as possible. 
“ Well,” says I, “if it be so, it will be a new case to me, 
although I have assisted in the extraction of as great a number of 
calves as most practitioners in my part of the county.” Now, 
partly from knowing the effects of the agent mentioned, and partly 
from a previous conversation I had held with my friend, Mr. Relph, 
I was induced to take along with me a portion of the extract, and, 
if I found the part in the state he described, to try its effects. 
When I arrived, I made an examination per vaginam, and found 
the case nearly as described ; but could not for a moment ima- 
gine it to be (as he called it) “ a horning up yet the os uteri 
appeared to be rigidly closed, not even admitting of so much as a 
finger with ease. Still, it had not that gristly feel which authors 
have described. As the cow appeared to have regular parturient 
pains, and in other respects was well prepared, I thought it a 
favourable case for the application of the extract of belladonna ; 
and this I did by taking up a little between my two first fingers, 
and then, introducing my hand, I applied it as well as circumstances 
would admit of to the mouth of the uterus, or, technically speak- 
ing, to the utero vaginal orifice. 
In the course of a few minutes the cow shewed symptoms of irri- 
tation, lashing her tail, stamping with her hind feet ; and this went 
on to general restlessness, which I made no doubt arose from the ap- 
plication of the drug to parts so irritable. This caused me some 
uneasiness ; but I strove as well as I could to suppress it. In 
time, however, these effects gradually wore off, and I again exa- 
mined the part, in which I found little alteration, except perhaps 
more heat than ordinarily. So I ventured to apply a little more 
of the extract ; from which the same results followed, but more 
quickly subsided. At the end of about three quarters of an 
hour I made another examination (this is as near the time as I 
can recollect, the case happening in the year 1843), and, greatly to 
my satisfaction, I found the os uteri had become so soft and dila- 
table, that, without much resistance, 1 could introduce my whole 
hand, and by a little manipulation obtain room enough to proceed 
towards the foetus, which I soon reached, and found making a 
breech presentation. As the parts now offered little or no re- 
sistance, she was speedily relieved from her burden, greatly to 
the satisfaction both of the owner and of those who witnessed the 
proceedings. 
I administered a little anodyne medicine, as is usual after manual 
