488 
EXTRACTION OF A MAE-FORMED CALF. 
which time I occasionally forced the hock and limb forwards. 
By these means both the legs were readily got into the passage. 
I then used some considerable force, first to one limb and then 
to the other, so as to get them perfectly straight ; but I found 
that neither the one nor the other gave way fairly at the stifle. I 
also examined the parts particularly, and found that the tail and 
breech were in their proper place. On examining the spine, I 
could detect a small cavity about the lumbar vertebrae, for which 
I could not account. I also thought there were some contractions 
about the whirlbone : of their exact nature I could not decide, 
but I thought all would give way on using a little extra force. 
After three or four of us had been pulling at the legs, one of 
them gave way between the metatarsal bones and the tarsus, and, 
soon afterwards, the limb came off there. I then secured the 
cord around the lower part of the tibia, and it was well kept on 
by the projection of the os calcis. Soon after this the other limb 
broke in the same place as the first, but it did not come aw T ay. 
Seeing no other chance of getting it away than by force, I had 
greater assistance called in, and soon extracted it. 
Examination of the foetus . — It was soon discovered that the 
foetus was a malformed one. The stifle joint lay forward, high 
up against the posterior ribs, and was held firmly there by the 
great contraction of the skin over the parts. The extensor 
muscles underneath were very much shortened. The tibia was 
also bent unusually backwards, as the os calcis came in contact 
almost with the back of the whirlbone joint. The muscles here 
were also in the same state of contraction and shortening as those 
attached to the patella, &c. The part of the limb below the hock 
was nearly in its natural position, being only a little more flexed 
upon the tibia than usual. The stifle and hock joints were also 
firmly held together in their altered position by the shortening of 
some and lengthening of others of the ligaments of the joints ; 
and when the muscles were cut through, the joints could not be 
brought to their natural positions without rupturing some of these 
ligaments. Both hind legs were in this state. 
Observations . — I never met with a foetus malformed like the 
present. It is very probable that, had we known of the state of 
the parts, the best mode of procedure would have been to have 
separated the contractions of the muscles and skin with the knife, 
by which means the limbs would have been put into a straight 
position ; but had the- muscles and skin been cut through, there 
would have been a probability that the limb might have given 
way, and separated from the other parts of the body. Now, 
suppose even that this had taken place, and the limbs had sepa- 
rated at the whirlbone joints, a cord might have been fastened 
