ON EMBRYOTOMY.—ON RIGS. 
195 
were continued longer than the fourth or fifth day, they did 
harm,, by stopping expectoration and suppuration, and draining 
the constitution too much, thereby rendering the system too dry, 
and by that increasing both fever and debility. 
[Although we may not quite agree with Mr. Hayes in his 
theory of catarrhal fever, we thank him for thisaccount of the pre¬ 
vailing epidemic of the last winter. A few of these records 
would throw much light on a part of our practice at present too 
little understood.— Edit.] 
ON EMBRYOTOMY. 
Bi/ the same. 
In unnatural presentations, or disproportions in the size of the 
foetal mass, either in mares or cows, that cannot be turned or 
extracted without great difficulty, or endangering the life of the 
mother, my method of embryotomy is to draw one of the fore 
legs out as far as I can ; then 1 make a slit with a knife through 
the integuments, lengthways, on the shank bone, as high as I 
can reach. I proceed to separate the skin from the leg, all round, 
with my hand inside the skin, all the way up, and round the 
shoulder to the top of the withers, and with my fingers separate 
the shoulder, scapula, leg, and altogether, from the ribs. All 
this is very easy to be done, and requires only a few minutes to 
be effected, and without any instrument. After this I cut off 
the skin all round the fetlock, at the part where the slit was made, 
and then draw out the leg and scapula altogether from wdthin 
the integuments. I proceed the same with the other leg ; the 
head may then be easily got at, and the foetal mass drawn with 
the greatest ease, both to the mother and operator. 
O N R I G S. 
Bj/ the same. 
As to Mr. Pcrcivall’s question of rigs, I know four horses of 
that description, now in this neighbourhood. Some of them have 
been castrated of one testicle seven or eight years, and the other 
testicle has never appeared in any of them. They all have the 
sexual desires when turned out to grass with or near mares, and 
will serve mares, to all appearance, the same as an entire horse. 
