560 
VETERINARY OBSTETRICS. 
ternative left but to put an end to the sufferings of the mare, 
and to slaughter it. He accordingly destroyed her, by plunging 
a knife into, and dividing the spinal cord at the neck. I at¬ 
tended the case from first to last, and can vouch for, and attest 
the truth and accuracy of the preceding statement. I had 
hoped to have seen its details reported by Mr. Gamgee in the 
Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Veterinary Medicine edited by 
him ; but as it has not so appeared, l have taken the liberty of 
submitting its important history to the profession through the 
medium of the Veterinarian into whose columns you will 
oblige me by inserting it. And you will confer an additional 
favour by appending what comments and remarks on it, and 
on the following points, you think proper for the practicable 
management of similar cases. 
1st. When the two fore legs protrude externally, with 
preternatural presentation of the head, what is the usual and 
best practice to folUow , in order to effect delivery safely to the 
mother? Is it more advisable to remove the legs by the knees 
which present, or internally by the shoulder joints ? The latter 
mode is, I understand, recommended on high authority, and 
it is enforced by the advantage it holds out, by enlarging the 
space which is occupied by these parts within the pelvis, to 
afford greater facility, so altering the position of, and bringing 
down the head—an obvious advantage, which the removal 
of the more externally protruding extremities can in no ways 
promote. 
2dly. Are there any instruments for diminishing the 
capacity of the head, in a preternatural presentation of it, 
or in a distorted or narrow pelvis, such as perforators, which 
are so safely and advantageously employed in human obstetrics 
along with crochets, when craniotomy is resorted to, in order 
to preserve the life of the mother? 
3dly. In a case like the present, when the pelvis appeared 
normal and capacious, is it allowable to prescribe large doses 
of tincture of opium—say three ounces—or morphia, to allay 
uterine action, so as to allow delivery to be made by turning 
the foal, and bringing down the hind legs ? Any plan seems 
to be preferable, and worth attempting, to the wilful destruc¬ 
tion of mare and foal. 
4thly. In the present case, before mutilating the foal , and 
even admitting that delivery per vias naturales was impracti¬ 
cable) would not the Caesarian operation be justifiable, as it would 
afford a good chance of preserving the life of the offspring , and 
a small one of even saving that of the mother, compared to the 
destructive process of putting the last sentence of the law 
into execution upon both, without trial ? It is matter of sur- 
