DIFFICULT PARTURITION IN THE MARE. 
143 
The proprietor,who was standing by and saw that my efforts 
were unsuccessful, begged of me to try and save the mare. 
Having satisfied myself that I had no chance of delivering the 
foal alive, 1 proceeded to reduce its size and bring it away piece¬ 
meal, after this manner. One fore leg, the near one, was 
again brought out of the vulva as far as the knee-joint, and 
confided to the care of an assistant, with instructions to pull 
strongly enough at it, to keep the whole limb on the stretch. 
I then, with a knife made for the purpose and placed on my 
middle finger, introduced my hand by the side of the out¬ 
stretched leg as far up as the shoulder; when by pushing the 
knife through the skin, and drawing my hand outwards I cut 
through the skin on the under side of the limb as far down 
as the knee-joint. The skin was then severed from this part 
of the leg, above the knee-joint. I next fastened a cord to the 
skin, disarticulated the knee-joint, and gave the cord to my 
assistant, while I, having the foot still attached by the skin, 
and the assistant pulling steady by the cord, skinned the leg 
with my thumb and fingers as far up the shoulder as I could 
reach. The knife was next used to divide the muscles at the 
breast; and having cut through these I ordered the assistants 
to pull firmly at the cord; and by which means the limb was 
removed from the body of the foal. The other fore leg was 
managed after the same manner, but with much greater ease, 
there being now more room in the vagina. 
With the two fore feet still attached by the skin, I made 
a strong traction, in the hope of being able to bring away 
the body of the foal, but was obliged to desist after a fruitless 
effort. Up to this time the mare had been standing and 
straining a good deal; but she now laid down, when, placing 
myself on the floor, I again introduced my hand, armed with 
the knife, and carried it as far back as the cartilaginous 
junction of the ribs with the sternum, and cut forward 
through the cartilages of the posterior ribs. After this by in¬ 
troducing my hand into the chest I removed its contents, 
and breaking through the diaphragm emptied the abdomen 
also. Then being furnished with a hook, having an eye, 
which nearly fills the palm of the hand, I, by fastening it 
over each rib in turn, at its articulation with the vertebrae, by 
a sudden twitch disarticulated the rib. The hook, to be 
successfully used in this proceeding, must be placed as close 
as possible to the articulation. All the ribs behind the 
scapula being disarticulated, I placed a broad hook behind 
the two first ribs, to which a cord was attached, and ordered 
an assistant to draw at this, while another was pulling by 
the fore feet. In these efforts the head and neck falling, as 
