274 DIFFICULT PARTURITION IN A MARE. 
blush of congestion of its blood-vessels, and plainly display¬ 
ing the ramifications of its larger veins. The foetus was 
lying on its left side, with its head and neck thrown back¬ 
wards, extending along the floor of the uterus from the right 
to the left flank of the mother. The fore feet had passed out 
of the vagina, and the right or upper hind foot occupied a 
place within it. The position of the left hind extremity 
described a line parallel to that of the head and neck, the 
hock being below the pubes, w^hilst the foot was in the right 
flank, beyond the reach of the human hand. The first step 
taken in order to relieve the suffering animal consisted in an 
effort being made to return the displaced organ to its accus¬ 
tomed position. This, however, was readily effected by 
equable pressure being exerted by the hand on the surface of 
the viscus, when the elastic matter was speedily expelled, and 
the collapsed body easily passed through its widely dilated 
neck, which w^as relaxed to such a degree as to admit of the 
free introduction of the three middle fingers. The replace¬ 
ment of the organ was now entirely useless, for every expul¬ 
sive effort brought it again into the vagina, and the frequent 
attempts made to prevent its protrusion by the operator 
placing his arm firmly on its neck, while his hand was 
engaged in rectifying the position of the foetus, were perfectly 
ineffectual, and even the application of the hand of a strong 
and dexterous assistant over the opening was equally un¬ 
available. Such being the state of things, it was determined 
to disregard this lesion for the time being, and to direct 
attention to the extraction of the foetus. Accordingly a cord 
was immediately attached to the right hinder leg lying in the 
vagina, and the hock of the left hinder extremity being accessi¬ 
ble, another cord with some difficulty was passed around the 
lower part of it. Gentle traction was then used until both 
the fetlock and foot could be freely manipulated. The fore 
extremities were then gradually, but somewhat forcibly, 
thrust into the uterus, without allowing the hinder ones to 
recede, while the foot of the left hinder extremity, being 
guarded by and in the hand over the brim of the pelvis, was 
conducted into the vagina to its fellows In a few seconds a 
fully-matured, dead foetus, possessing a lateral concavo- 
convex face, was comparatively easily extracted, and the 
placenta removed. It was utterly impossible by the means 
used to obviate intrusion of the bladder, even during the 
transit of the foetus. It, however, had not received any 
visible laceration of structure by the violence it had endured; 
but its mucous membrane, throughout its whole extent, was 
thickened and congested, and the effusion of blood on its 
