PARTURITION CASES. 
395 
not shewn any symptoms of life for some time, but lay on the right 
side, low down, like a lifeless mass. The cow was a little off at 
the hips, but not to the full extent that I could wish ; nor were 
the passages fully prepared for such an event. On introducing 
my hand up the vagina, I found the os uteri about half distended, 
with legs presenting, and labour pains commenced. I thought 
proper to rupture the membranes. Soon after, I found that it was 
the hind-legs and the breech that was presenting. I left her for 
a few hours, so as to give the passages time to become dilated. 
When we went to her again she had made but little progress; 
and I now found that the calf lay upon its back, and that when 
she strained she forced the legs towards the rectum, instead of 
through the os uteri. Finding this, I passed a cord round each 
leg, and gently drew them into the passage, by which means I 
created uterine action; and by steadily and gently drawing at 
them, we gradually got the legs into the vagina, and ultimately 
the hind-quarters ; and in about an hour after we extracted the 
calf. It had been dead some time ; indeed, the putrefactive process 
had commenced. The calf was a very large one, and a male. In 
all breech presentations extraction is more difficult, on account of 
pulling in opposition to the growth of hair ; on which account we 
ought to well lubricate the parts with oil or grease. 
Extraction of a Calf on its Back, fore Legs presented, 
Head back. 
On the 4th of April, 1850, Mr. came for me to an aged cow 
that could not calve. A celebrated man at such cases had been 
trying for an hour or two, but could not succeed in getting the head 
up. He then advised that I should be sent for, as he had done on 
several occasions before. On my arrival, I found the cow fully 
prepared in every way for calving ; but the calf lay upon its back, 
with only the fore legs presented ; the head being doubled far back 
against its side. After many ineffectual attempts to get the head 
into its proper place, I found I could not succeed without removing 
the fore legs ; and even then I could not bring it forward without 
placing a hook into one of the orbits. In these cases, the great 
difficulty is the foetus lying on its back, causing the head and body 
to gravitate into the uterus, with the front of the thorax forced 
against us. 
