EXTRACTS FROM EXCHANGES. 
529 
vix fi rst with the closed and then with the opened hand—to 
its utmost capacity and easily delivered a full termed but dead 
foetus. By good diet the weakened mother recovered.—( Schweiz . 
A rchiv. fur Thierhlk .) 
Dropsy of the Subcutaneous Connective Tissue of 
the Head and Neck of a Fcetus, Associated with Breech 
Presentation, an Obstruction to Deeivery. —I was called 
to see a cow. which was said to be calving four or five weeks too 
soon. Previous efforts at extraction had nearly torn off the hind 
limbs. A partly mutilated foetus presented by the breech. The 
hip joints had entered the vulva. The examining hand easily 
passed the hips ; reaching the shoulder, I with difficulty finally 
passed the hand forward and reached the head. The upper part 
of the neck could not be circumscribed by the fingers; the neck 
was excessively swollen ; the head felt like a soft, doughy, bul¬ 
let-like, misshapen and voluminous mass ; I naturally thought of 
hydrocephalus with dropsy of the subcutaneous connective tissue 
of the neck and shoulders ; as the cervical canal was small I 
gave, a grave prognosis. I proceeded to deliver. Upon slight 
traction the bones of the legs gave away at the hips and hocks. 
This being the case I disarticulated the bones successively up to 
the vertebrae. Then I removed the viscera. I then tried to 
diminish the.dimension of the head and neck by drawing off the 
water, but failed. From lack of room it was impossible for me 
with my pocket knife to incise the head and neck. Hence noth¬ 
ing remained but to deliver by force. Taking an ordinary 
butcher’s hook I fastened it into the tissues, ran a rope through 
it, and gave the rope to six persons, three at each end of the 
rope. I secured the mother to the stall by means of ropes run 
over a pad placed under the vulva. At the first pull the chest 
entered the vagina but the shoulders caught; after repeated 
tractions they entered the vagina, then the head followed and 
the foetus was delivered after two hours. On both sides of the 
neck was a large serous cystic infiltration, no hydrocephalus, but 
an excessive dropsy of the connective tissue of the head. The 
mother recovered nicely after ten days.— (Schweiz. Archiv. fur 
Thierhlk .) 
Dropsy of the Kidneys of a Fcetus as a Hindrance 
to Deeivery. —The front legs and head of a foetus had pro¬ 
truded through the vulva. Strong traction failed to budge it 
any further. A. believed that the obstruction lay in the abdo¬ 
men of the foetus. He removed the left leg and shoulder, 
opened the chest and removed its viscera with the diaphragm! 
