THE CiESAREAN OPERATION ON A COW. 
125 
lowing is an abridgment. A cow, nine years old, and in poor con¬ 
dition, had exceeded the period of pregnancy about twenty days. 
She was exceedingly irritable, and was making continual efforts to 
expel the foetus. The vulva was much inflamed, and, on intro¬ 
ducing the hand into the vagina, the neck of the uterus was found 
so swollen, that the introduction of the finger was scarcely possible. 
The sufferings of the beast, and the imminent danger of the case, 
decided him to have immediate recourse to the Caesarean opera¬ 
tion, as the only means of saving her and the calf. 
The cow was cast and secured. M. Chretien then proceeded to 
open the right flank two inches anterior to, and a little below the 
haunch. The incision was six or seven inches long, from above, 
below, and from behind, forwards, the instrument having been 
guarded by two fingers, lest the intestines should be injured. The 
lips of this incision being held apart, he effected an incision with a 
hisiouri cache, five or six inches in length, on the superior and 
middle portion of the uterus, through which he extracted the calf 
alive. A portion of the small intestine had protruded at the mo¬ 
ment of the opening the flank, occasioned by the gas which it 
contained. This was carefully returned, and several sutures were 
passed through the opening into the uterus, and also the abdominal 
muscles and the skin. Some blood, however, had escaped into 
the abdominal cavity, and although the haemorrhage had been 
arrested before the wound was closed, the want of a complete 
absorption of this fluid, was, probably, the cause of the loss of the 
animal, who died eight or nine days afterwards. 
On examination of her after death, the stomachs were full of 
food, and the mucous membrane of the abomasum and of the intes¬ 
tines were inflamed. The intestines were distended with gas. 
The internal membrane of the womb was of a deep red colour, and 
five or six pounds of blood mingled with a red-coloured fluid were 
found in the abdominal cavity. 
Another cow was brought under the treatment of the same gen¬ 
tleman. The time of utero-gestation had expired—the labour pains 
had commenced, and the fore-legs of the foetus presented themselves. 
The person to whom she belonged had been uselessly endeavouring 
to draw the legs lower down, and to effect a delivery. M. Chretien 
began by attempting to discover the cause of the obstruction: he 
accordingly introduced his hand into the vagina, and, pushing back 
the protruding membranes, he felt, before he reached the uterus, a 
hard tumor, which occupied one-third of the pelvic cavity. She 
had been under his care for a fracture of the ileum near the 
hip-joint, which had left some degree of lameness, and the haunch 
on that side was a little depressed. Penetrating beyond this obsta¬ 
cle, he found the head of the calf turned backwards, and lying 
upon the shoulder of the foetal animal. It was evidently impossi- 
