284 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 



BLEEDING. 



It is a too frequent practice for gentlemen who 

 have given a little attention to the veterinary art, as 

 well as with some professional surgeons, to order a 

 certain quantity of blood to be taken away, without 

 themselves attending to the operation. Although we 

 have pointed out the probable quantity under particular 

 diseases, yet it must be distinctly understood that 

 much depends upon the strength, size, and condition 

 of the animal at the time ; and although we may sup- 

 pose, from what we have seen effected by practice, 

 that the quantity which we have ordered will suffice, 

 yet in this we may be greatly mistaken. No regular 

 surgeon, however great his practice may have been, 

 can predict this to a certainty. We have already 

 pointed out, at page 236, the nature of the pulse and 

 its different indications. Before bleeding, we are 

 supposed to have ascertained the state of the pulse, 

 and our object is to reduce it as nearly as possible to 

 its natural or healthy condition, or at least until a 

 change has been effected in its action ; therefore, the 

 operator or his assistant should keep his finger on the 

 artery while the blood is flowing, and, without strictly 

 adhering to the quantity which he had previously 

 supposed, continue to take blood until a marked 

 alteration in the pulse has taken place. 



The operation of bleeding is performed with a 

 fleam, or lancet. We would recommend the former to 

 be used by private individuals, or at least by such as 

 have not had sufficient practice with the lancet. A 

 piece of hard wood, loaded at one end with lead, called 

 a blood-stick, is used for striking the fleam into the 

 vein. Care should be taken not to strike too hard, as 

 by doing so it is likely to wound the opposite side of 



