DISEASES OF THE HEART AND BLOOD, ETC. 367 



mules, and in no case found any of the evil consequences to 

 follow that are indicated in the quotations above given. 

 Thousands of animals have been bled for big head alone, to 

 our certain knowledge; and we know that neither the '^mod- 

 ern horse doctor" nor any one else can cure that disease 

 without a resort to the ^'•vile practice." There are other 

 complaints in whose treatment it is equally indispensable. 



Bleeding, if judiciously . performed, does not necessarily 

 ^' impoverish the remaining blood." In nearly all cases where 

 bleeding is proper, the blood is already impoverished by dis- 

 ease, and, if it were not so, the horse would be well. It is 

 thick, dark, and greatly deficient in the nutrition which the 

 system requires for* its support and growth. To say that 

 the horse would be better oflF without any of it in his veins 

 would be pushing the argument to an absurd e-xtreme ; but 

 the statement is within perfectly reasonable bounds that it 

 has become only the vehicle of disease and deterioration to 

 the different tissues of the body. * 



But this is not the only or the chief difficulty. The capil- 

 laries — those little channels which ultimately ponvey the nu- 

 trition imparted by the food to the entire organism of the 

 body — ^have become obstructed, and perhaps closed, by this 

 very same condition of the blood; and muscles, tendons, 

 membranes, bones, skin — all parts of the frame, in fact — are 

 suffering and wasting away. There must be a removal of 

 the cause if the results would be altered. The blood must 

 be changed and purified ; new and better blood must be sub- 

 stituted for that which is impure and impoverishing. 



How is the blood to be operated upon when it is in this 

 state ? Whatever is done now must be done quickly. The 

 whole system is fearfully disturbed, and, unless the natural 

 functions are restored to their healthful action speedily, the 

 animal must die. Will medication do this? Rarely, indeed. 

 The medicine may distend the stomach to its utmost capacity, 

 and the blood scarcely be influenced by it. In this condition 

 of the blood, communication with the alimentary canal, 

 whence it receives all its supplies, is closed to an alarming 



