EMPLOYMENT OF FORCE IN DYSTOCIA. 
543 
to state that the chloride of zinc treatment is not original 
with me, but is mentioned in Morton’s work on Veterinary 
Pharmacy. 1 have used it for years, however, and believe 
that when thoroughly and faithfully applied, it is the most 
rational and effective treatment we have for open joints. 
EMPLOYMENT OF FORCE IN DYSTOCIA. 
By Dk. W. H. Ridge. 
A Paper read before the Pennsylvania State Veterinary Medical Association. 
Force may be divided into two kinds —internal and ex¬ 
ternal. The internal being due to the contractions of mus¬ 
cular tissue of the parent, while the external force is 
developed by mechanical aids. 
There are varied opinions in regard to the amount and 
kind of force to be used, some using extreme force, as hitch¬ 
ing a horse to the foetus and tearing it away, while others 
use only one or two men at most, to pull on the foetus. We 
will first study internal force; this we know is due to the 
contractions of the muscular fibers of the uterus, assisted by 
the additional and diaphragmatic muscles. We can increase 
this contraction of the muscular fibres of the uterus by 
oxytoxics—drugs which have the power of acting on the in¬ 
voluntary muscular fibres. And further than this, we have 
drugs that stimulate this contraction. 
Alcohol and quinine have the power of increasing the 
force of the contractions. Ergot is mostly given as fluid ex¬ 
tract. As dystocia is a difficult parturition, we must choose 
our force to overcome the difficulty. We all know that by 
giving ergot in a transverse presentation we would be making 
matters much worse, as ergot would add to the contractions, 
most likely producing tonic contractions so strong that we 
could never rectify the presentation, also giving the animal 
great pain, and, by the contractions being constant, would 
drive most of the blood from the uterus, which added to the 
pressure on the umbilical cord would kill the foetus. The 
case in which ergot is indicated is inertia of the uterus, 
