with women. After labor pains set in, give a reasonable time for the water
bags to protrude and burst spontaneously, and only interfere when delay
suggests some mechanical obstruction. If there is no mechanical
obstruction, let the calf be expelled slowly by the unaided efforts of the
cow. Bruises and lacerations of the passages and flooding from the
uncontracted womb may come from the too speedy extraction of the calf. When
assistance is necessary, the operator should dress in a thick flannel shirt
from which the sleeves have been cut off clear to the shoulders. This
avoids danger of exposure and yet leaves the whole arm free and
untrammeled. Before inserting the hand it and the arm should be smeared
with oil, lard, or vaseline, care being taken that the oil or lard is
fresh, neither salted nor rancid, and that it has been purified by boiling
or rendered antiseptic by the addition of a teaspoonful of carbolic acid to
the pound. This is a valuable precaution against infecting the cow by
introducing putrid ferments into the passages and against poisoning of the
arm by decomposing discharges in case the calving is unduly protracted.
When labor pains have lasted some time without any signs of the water bags,
the dropping in at the sides of the rump, and the other preparations for
calving being accomplished, the hand should be introduced to examine. When
the water bags have burst and neither feet nor head appear for some time,
examination should be made. When one fore foot only and the head appear, or
both fore feet without the head, or the head without the fore feet,
examine. If one hind foot appears without the other, make examination. The
presenting limb or head should be secured by a rope with a running noose,
so that it may not pass back into the womb and get lost during the
subsequent manipulations, but may be retained in the vagina or brought up
again easily. In searching for a missing member it is usually better to
turn the head of the cow downhill, so that the gravitation of the fetus and
abdominal organs forward into the belly of the cow may give more room in
which to bring up the missing limb or head. If the cow is lying down, turn
her on the side opposite to that on which the limb is missing, so that
there may be more room for bringing the latter up. Even if a missing limb
is reached, it is vain to attempt to bring it up during a labor pain. Wait
until the pain has ceased and attempt to straighten out the limb before the
next pain comes on. If the pains are violent and continuous, they may be
checked by pinching the back or by putting a tight surcingle around the
body in front of the udder. These failing, 1 ounce or 1-1/2 ounces of
chloral hydrate in a quart of water may be given to check the pains. If the
passages have dried up or lost their natural, lubricating liquid, smear the
interior of the passages and womb and the surface of the calf, so far as it
can be reached, with pure fresh lard; or pure sweet oil may be run into the
womb through a rubber tube (fountain syringe). In dragging upon the fetus
apply strong traction only while the mother is straining, and drag downward
toward the hocks as well as backward. The natural curvature of both fetus
and passages is thus followed and the extraction rendered easier.
LABOR PAINS BEFORE RELAXATION OF THE PASSAGES.
Any of the various causes of abortion may bring on labor pains before the
time. Straining comes on days or weeks before the time, and there is not
the usual enlargement, swelling, and mucous discharge from the vulva. There
is little or no falling in by the sides of the root of the tail; the
abdomen has not dropped to the usual extent, and the udder is less
developed and yields little or no milk. In spite of the pains no water bags
appear, and the oiled hand cautiously introduced into the vagina finds the
neck of the womb firmly closed, rigid, and undilatable. If it is known that
the cow has not reached her proper time of calving, the examination through
the vagina should be omitted and the animal should be placed in a dark,
quiet place by herself, and be given 1 to 2 ounces laudanum. _Viburnum
prunifolium_ (black haw), 1 ounce, may be added, if necessary, and repeated
in three hours. The pains will usually subside.
In some instances the external parts are relaxed and duly prepared, but the
neck of the womb remains rigidly closed. In such case the solid extract of
belladonna should be smeared around the constricted opening and the animal
left quiet until it relaxes.
DISEASED INDURATION OF THE MOUTH OF THE WOMB.
From previous lacerations or other injuries the neck of the womb may have
become the seat of fibrous hardening and constriction, so as to prevent its
dilatation, when all other parts are fully prepared for calving. The
enlarged, flabby vulva, the sinking at each side of the rump, the full
udder, and drooping abdomen indicate the proper time for calving, but the
labor pains effect no progress in the dilatation of the mouth of the womb,
and the oiled hand introduced detects the rigid, hard, and, in some cases,
nodular feeling of the margins of the closed orifice which no application
of belladonna or other antispasmodic suffices to relax. Sponge tents may be
inserted or the mechanical dilator (Pl. XX, fig. 6) may be used if there is
opening enough to admit it, and if not, a narrow-bladed, probe-pointed
knife (Pl. XXIV, fig. 2) may be passed through the orifice and turned
upward, downward, and to each side, cutting to a depth not exceeding a
quarter of an inch in each case. This done, a finger may be inserted, then
two, three, and four, and finally all four fingers and thumb brought
together in the form of a cone and made to push in with rotary motion until
the whole hand can be introduced. After this the labor pains will induce
further dilation, and finally the presenting members of the calf will
complete the process.
TWISTING OF THE NECK OF THE WOMB.
This is not very uncommon in the cow, the length of the body of the womb
and the looseness of the broad ligaments that attach it to the walls of the
pelvis favoring the twisting. It is as if one were to take a long sack
rather loosely filled at the neck and turn over its closed end, so that its
twisting should occur in the neck. The twist may be one-quarter round, so
that the upper surface would come to look to one side, or it may be half
round, so that what was the upper surface becomes the lower. The relation
of the womb of the cow to the upper and right side of the paunch favors the
twisting. The paunch occupies the whole left side of the abdomen and
extends across its floor to the right side. Its upper surface thus forms an
inclined plane, sloping from the left downward and to the right, and on
this sloping surface lies the pregnant womb.
It is easy to see how, in the constant movements of the paunch upon its
contents and the frequent changes of position of the growing fetus within
the womb, to say nothing of the contractions of the adjacent bowels and the
more or less active movements of the cow, the womb should roll downward to
the right. Yet in many cases the twist is toward the left, showing that it
is not the result of a simple rolling downward over the paunch, but rather
of other disturbances. The condition may be suspected when labor pains have
continued for some time without any sign of the water bags, and it is
confirmed when the oiled hand, introduced through the vagina, finds the
mouth of the womb soft and yielding, but furnished with internal folds
running forward in a spiral manner. If the folds on the upper wall of the
orifice run toward the right, the womb is twisted to the right; if, on the
contrary, they turn toward the left, it indicates that the womb is turned
over in that direction. The direction of the twist must be known before
treatment can be undertaken. Then, if the twist is toward the right, the
cow is laid upon her right side with her head downhill, the hand of the
operator is introduced through the spirally constricted neck of the womb,
and a limb or other portion of the body of the calf is seized and pressed
firmly against the wall of the womb. Meanwhile two or three assistants roll
the cow from her right side over on her back to her left side. The object
is to hold the womb and calf still while the body of the cow rolls over. If
successful, the twist is undone, its grasp on the wrist is slackened, and
the water bags and calf press into the now open passage. If the first
attempt does not succeed, it is to be repeated until success has been
attained. If the spiral folds on the upper wall of the opening turn toward
the left, the cow is laid on her left side and rolled over on her back and
on to the right side, the hand being, as before, within the womb and
holding the fetus, so that all may not rotate with the cow. In introducing
the hand it will usually be found needful to perforate the membranes, so
that a limb of the calf may be seized direct and firmly held. Among my
occasional causes of failure with these cases have been, first, the
previous death and decomposition of the fetus, leading to such
overdistention of the womb that it could not be made to rotate within the
abdomen, and, second, the occurrence of inflammation and an exudate on the
twisted neck of the womb, which hindered it from untwisting.
In obstinate cases, in which the hand can be made to pass through the neck
of the womb easily, additional help may be had from the use of the
instrument shown in Plate XX, figure 5. Two cords, with running nooses, are
successively introduced and made fast on two limbs of the calf; the cords
are then passed through the two rings on the end of the instrument, which
is passed into the womb and the cords drawn tight and fixed round the
handle. Then, using the handle as a lever, it is turned in the direction
opposite to the twist. The hand should meanwhile be introduced into the
womb and the snared limbs seized and pressed against its walls so as to
secure the rotation of the uterus along with the body of the fetus. The
relaxation of the constriction and the effacement of the spiral folds will
show when success has been gained, and the different members at one end of
the body should then be brought up so as to secure a natural presentation.
NARROW PELVIS FROM FRACTURE OR DISEASE.
In a small cow the pelvis may be too narrow to pass a calf sired by a bull
of a large breed, but this is exceptional, as the fetus usually
accommodates itself to the size of the dam and makes its extra growth after
birth. When the pelvic bones have been fractured repair takes place with
the formation of a large permanent callus, which, projecting internally,
may be a serious obstacle to calving. Worse still, if the edge of the
broken bone projects internally as a sharp spike or ridge, the vaginal
walls are cut upon it during the passage of the calf, with serious or fatal
result. In other cases, where the cow has suffered from fragility of bone
(fragilitas ossium) the thickening of the bone causes narrowing of the long
passage of the pelvis and the crumbling fractures poorly repaired, with an
excess of brittle new material, may form an insuperable obstacle to
parturition. Cows affected in any of these ways should never again be bred,
but if they do get pregnant and reach full time a careful examination will
be necessary to determine whether natural parturition can take place or if
the calf must be extracted in pieces. (See "Embryotomy," p. 202.)
OBSTRUCTION BY MASSES OF FAT.
This is not unknown in old cows of the beef breeds, the enormous masses of
fat upon and within the pelvis being associated with weakness or fatty
degeneration of the muscles. If the presentation is natural, little more is
wanted than a judicious traction upon the fetus to compress and overcome
the soft resisting masses.
OBSTRUCTION BY A FULL BLADDER OR RECTUM OR BY STONE.
In all cases of delayed or tardy parturition the evacuation of rectum and
bladder is important, and it is no less so in all difficult parturitions.
Stone in the bladder is fortunately rare in the cow, but when present it
should be removed to obviate crushing and perhaps perforation of the organ
during calving.
CALVING RETARDED BY NERVOUSNESS.
In a public fair ground I have seen labor pains begin early in the day and
keep up in a weak and insufficient manner for many hours, until the stall
was thoroughly closed in and the cow secluded from the constant stream of
visitors and the incessant noise, when at once the pains became strong and
effective and the calf was soon born.
COAGULATED BLOOD UNDER THE VAGINAL WALLS.
This is common after calving, but sometimes occurs before, as the result of
accidental injury. The mass may be recognized by its dark hue and the
doughy sensation to the touch. It may be cut into and the mass turned out
with the fingers, after which it should be washed frequently with an
antiseptic lotion (carbolic acid 1 dram in 1 quart of water).
CONSTRICTION OF A MEMBER BY THE NAVEL STRING.
In early fetal life the winding of the navel string around a limb may cause
the latter to be slowly cut off by absorption under the constricting cord.
So at calving the cord wound round a presenting member may retard progress
somewhat, and though the calf may still be born tardily by the unaided
efforts of the mother, it is liable to come still-born, because the
circulation in the cord is interrupted by compression before the offspring
can reach the open air and commence to breathe. If, therefore, it is
possible to anticipate and prevent this displacement and compression of the
navel string it should be done, but if this is no longer possible, then the
extraction of the calf should be effected as rapidly as possible, and if
breathing is not at once attempted it should be started by artificial
means.
WATER IN THE HEAD OF THE CALF (HYDROCEPHALUS).
This is an enormous distention of the cavity holding the brain, by reason
of the accumulation of liquid in the internal cavities (ventricles) of the
brain substance. The head back of the eyes rises into a great rounded ball
(Pl. XIX, figs. 4 and 5), which proves an insuperable obstacle to
parturition. The fore feet and nose being the parts presented, no progress
can be made, and even if the feet are pulled upon the nose can not by any
means be made to appear. The oiled hand introduced into the passages will
feel the nose presenting between the fore limbs, and on passing the hand
back over the face the hard rounded mass of the cranium is met with. A
sharp-pointed knife or a cannula and trocar should be introduced in the
palm of the hand and pushed into the center of the rounded mass so as to
evacuate the water. The hand is now used to press together the hitherto
distended but thin and fragile walls, and the calf may be delivered in the
natural way. If the enlarged head is turned backward it must still be
reached and punctured, after which it must be brought up into position and
the calf delivered.
If the hind feet present first, all may go well until the body and
shoulders have passed out, when further progress is suddenly arrested by
the great bulk of the head. If possible, the hand, armed with a knife or
trocar, must be passed along the side of the shoulder or neck so as to
reach and puncture the distended head. Failing in this, the body may be
skinned up from the belly and cut in two at the shoulder or neck, after
which the head can easily be reached and punctured. If in such case the
fore limbs have been left in the womb, they may now be brought up into the
passage, and when dragged upon the collapsed head will follow.
If the distention is not sufficient to have rendered the bony walls of the
cranium thin and fragile, so that they can be compressed with the hand
after puncture, a special method may be necessary. A long incision should
be made from behind forward in the median line of the cranium with an
embryotomy knife (Pl. XXI, fig. 1) or with a long embryotome (Pl. XX, fig.
3). By this means the bones on the one side are completely separated from
those on the other and may be made to overlap and perhaps to flatten down.
If this fails they may be cut from the head all around the base of the
rounded cranial swelling by means of a guarded chisel (Pl. XX, fig. 8) and
mallet, after which there will be no difficulty in causing them to
collapse.
DROPSY OF THE ABDOMEN OF THE CALF (ASCITES).
This is less frequent than hydrocephalus, but no less difficult to deal
with. With an anterior presentation the fore limbs and head may come away
easily enough, but no effort will advance the calf beyond the shoulders.
The first thought should be dropsy of the belly, and the oiled hand
introduced by the side of the chest will detect the soft and fluctuating
yet tense sac of the abdomen. If there is space to allow of the
introduction of an embryotomy knife, the abdomen may be freely cut with
this, when the fluid will escape into the womb and parturition may proceed
naturally. If this can not be effected, a long trocar and cannula may be
passed between the first two ribs and straight on beneath the spine until
it punctures the abdomen. (Pl. XVIII, fig. 2.) Then the trocar is to be
withdrawn and the liquid will flow through the cannula and will be hastened
by traction on the fore limbs. In the absence of the trocar and cannula,
two or three of the first ribs may be cut from the breastbone, so that the
hand may be introduced through the chest to puncture the diaphragm with an
embryotomy knife and allow an escape of the water. In some slighter cases a
tardy delivery may take place without puncture, the liquid bulging forward
into the chest as the abdomen is compressed in the pelvic passages. With a
posterior presentation the abdomen may be punctured more easily either in
the flank or with a trocar and cannula through the anus.
GENERAL DROPSY OF THE CALF.
This occurs from watery blood or disease of some internal organ, like the
liver or kidney, and is recognized by the general puffed-up and rounded
condition of the body, which pits everywhere on pressure but without
crackling. If not too extreme a case, the calf may be extracted after it
has been very generally punctured over the body, but usually the only
resort is to extract it in pieces. (See "Embryotomy," p. 202.)
SWELLING OF THE CALF WITH GAS.
This is usually the result of the death and decomposition of the fetus when
extraction has been delayed for a day or more after the escape of the
waters. It is impossible to extract it whole, owing to its large size and
the dry state of the skin of the calf, the membranes, and the wall of the
womb. These dry surfaces stick with such tenacity that no attempt at
traction leads to any advance of the calf out of the womb or into the
passages. When the fetus is advanced the adherent womb advances with it,
and when the strain is relaxed both recede to where they were at first. The
condition may be helped somewhat by the free injection of oil into the
womb, but it remains impossible to extract the enormously bloated body, and
the only resort is to cut it in pieces and extract it by degrees. (See
"Embryotomy," p. 202.)
RIGID CONTRACTIONS OF MUSCLES.
In the development of the calf, as in after life, the muscles are subject
to cramps, and in certain cases given groups of muscles remain unnaturally
short, so that even the bones grow in a twisted and distorted way. In one
case the head and neck are drawn round to one side and can not be
straightened out, even the bones of the face and the nose being curved
around to that side. In other cases the flexor muscles of the fore legs are
so shortened that the knees are kept constantly bent and can not be
extended by force. The bent neck may sometimes be sufficiently straightened
for extraction by cutting across the muscles on the side to which it is
turned, and the bent knees by cutting the cords on the back of the shank
bones just below the knees. If this fails, there remains the resort of
cutting off the distorted limbs or head. (See "Embryotomy," p. 202.)
TUMORS OF THE CALF (INCLOSED OVUM).
Tumors or new growths grow on the unborn calf as on the mature animal, and
by increasing the diameter of the body render its progress through the
passage of the pelvis impossible. In my experience with large, fleshy
tumors of the abdomen, I have cut open the chest, removed the lungs and
heart, cut through the diaphragm with the knife, and removed the tumor
piecemeal by alternate tearing and cutting until the volume of the body was
sufficiently reduced to pass through. Where this failed it would remain to
cut off the anterior part of the body, removing as much of the chest as
possible, and cutting freely through the diaphragm; then, pushing back the
remainder of the body, the hind limbs may be seized and brought into the
passages and the residue thus extracted. The tumor, unless very large, will
get displaced backward so as not to prove an insuperable obstacle.
In many cases the apparent tumor is a blighted ovum which has failed to
develop, but has grafted itself on its more fortunate twin and from it has
drawn its nourishment. These are usually sacs containing hair, skin,
muscle, bone, or other natural tissues, and only exceptionally do they show
the distinct outline of the animal.
MONSTROSITY IN THE CALF.
As a monstrous development in the calf may hinder calving, it is well to
consider shortly the different directions in which these deviations from
the natural form appear. Their origin and significance will be rendered
clearer if we divide them according to the fault of development in
individual cases. Monsters are such--
(1) From absence of parts--absence of head, limb, or other organ--arrested
development.
(2) From some organ being unnaturally small, as a dwarfed head, limb,
trunk, etc.--arrested development.
(3) From unnatural division of parts--cleft lips, palate, head, trunk,
limbs, etc.--abnormal growth.
(4) From the absence of natural divisions--absence of mouth, nose, eye,
anus; the cloven foot of ox or pig becomes solid, like that of the horse,
etc.--confluence of parts which are rightfully separate.
(5) From the fusion of parts--both eyes replaced by central one, both
nostrils merged into one central opening, etc.--confluence of parts.
(6) From unnatural position or form of parts--curved nose, neck, back,
limbs, etc.--lack of balance in the growth of muscles during development.
(7) From excessive growth of one or more organs--enormous size of head,
double penis, superfluous digits, etc.--redundancy of growth at given
points.
(8) From imperfect differentiation of the sexual organs--hermaphrodites
(organs intermediate between male and female), male organs with certain
feminine characters, female organs with certain well-marked male
characters.
(9) From the doubling of parts or of the entire body--double monsters,
doubled heads, doubled bodies, extra limbs, etc.--redundant development.
(Pl. XIX, figs. 1, 2, 3.)
_Causes._--The causes of monstrosities are varied. Some, like extra digits,
lack of horns, etc., run in families, which produce them with absolute
certainty when bred in the direct line, although they were originally
acquired peculiarities which have merely been fixed by long habit in
successive generations. The earliest horse had five toes, and even the most
recent fossil horse had three toes, of which the two lateral ones are still
represented in the modern animal by the two splint bones. Yet if our horse
develops an extra toe it is pronounced a monstrosity. A more genuine
monstrosity is the solid-hoofed pig, in which two toes have been merged
into one. Another of the same kind is the solid shank bone of the ox, which
consists of two bones united into one, but which are still found apart in
the early fetus. Though originally acquired peculiarities, they now breed
as invariably as color or form.
Other monstrosities seem to have begun in too close breeding, by which the
powers of symmetrical development are impaired, just as the procreative
power weakens under continuous breeding from the closest blood relations. A
monstrosity consisting in the absence of an organ often depends on a simple
lack of development, the result of disease or injury, as a young bone is
permanently shortened by being broken across the soft part between the
shaft and the end, the only part where increase in length can take place.
As the result of the injury the soft, growing layer becomes prematurely
hard and all increase in length at that end of the bone ceases. This will
account for some cases of absence of eye, limb, or other organ.
Sometimes a monstrosity is owing to the inclosure of one ovum in another
while the latter is still but a soft mass of cells and can easily close
around the first. Here each ovum has an independent life; they develop
simultaneously, only the outer one having direct connection with the womb
and being furnished with abundant nourishment advances most rapidly and
perfectly, while the inclosed and starved ovum is dwarfed and imperfect
often to the last degree.