576 SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



the under jaw near to the hinder extremity, in order to press the angular vein, which, passes 

 in that place, to make it swell ; he touches the riglit cheek at the spot nearly equidistant 

 from the eye and mouth, and there finds the tubercle which is to guide him, and also feels 

 the angular vein swelled below this tubercle; he then makes the incision from below 

 upward, half a finger's breadth below the middle of the tubercle." 



When the vein is no longer pressed upon, the bleeding will ordinarily 

 cease. If not, a pin may be passed through the lips of the orifice, and a 

 lock of wool tied round them 



For thorough bleeding, the jugular vein is generally to be preferred. 

 The sheep should be firmly held by the head by an assistant, and the body 

 confined between his knees, with its rump against a wall. Some of the 

 wool is then cut away from the middle of the neck over the jugular vein, 

 and a lio-ature, brotight in contact with the neck by opening the wool, is 

 tied around it below the shorn spot near the shoulder. The vein will soon 

 rise. The orifice may be secured, after bleeding, as described in the pre- 

 ceding method. 



As once before remarked, the good effects of bleeding depend almost 

 as much on the rapidity with which the blood is abstracted, as on the 

 amount taken. This is especially true in acute disorders. Blacklock 

 tersely I'emarks : " Either bleed rajndly or bleed not at all." The orifice 

 in the vein, therefore, should be of some length, and I need not inform 

 the least experienced practitioner that it should be made lengthwise with 

 the vein. A lancet is by far the best implement, and even a short-pointed 

 penknife is preferable to the bungling fleam. 



Another important rule in venesection is that, where indicated at all, it 

 should always be resorted to as nearly as possible to the commencement of 

 the malady. 



The amount of blood drawn should never be determined by admeasure- 

 ment, but by constitutional effect — the lowering of the pulse, and indica- 

 tions of weakness. In urgent cases as, for example, apoplexy or cerebral 

 inflammation, it would be proper to bleed until the sheep staggers or 

 falls. 



The amount of blood in the sheep is less, in comparison, than that in 

 the horse or ox. The blood of the horse constitutes about one-eighteenth 

 part of his weight, that of the ox at least one-twentieth, while the sheep, 

 in ordinary condition, is one-twenty-second. For this reason, we should 

 be more cautious in bleeding the latter, especially in frequently resorting 

 to it. Otherwise, the vital powers will be rapidly and fatally prostrated. 

 Many a sheep is destroyed by bleeding freely in disorders not requiring 

 it, and in disorders which did require it at the commencement, but of 

 which the inflammatory stage has passed. 



The Place of Feeling the Pulse. — The number of pulsations can be 

 determined by feeling the heart beat on the left side. The femoral 

 artery passes in an oblique direction across the inside of the thigh, and 

 about the middle of the thigh its pulsations and the character of the pulse 

 can be most readily noted. The pulsations per minute in a healthy adult 

 sheep are set down by Gasparin at 65, by Youatt at 70, and by Hurtrel 

 d'Arboval at 75. My own observations accord most nearly with those of 

 Gasparin. 



LIST OF MEDICINES EMPLOYED IN TREATING THE DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



Ale. — In cases of debility, unaccompanied with fever, a small amount 

 of ale is sometimes found a good stimulant. It may be given to feeble 



(1056) 



