86 



PHTSIC. 



No matUr what may be the age, the condition, or the occupation of 

 the horse, certain practitioners always discover that the mute drudge 

 requires depletion ; thus, an unscrupulous man may at most times earn 

 a ready shilling by performing an easy operation. Every kind of ani- 

 mal is liable to be so treated or so abused; and there are very fe\^ 

 stables throughout this kingdom in which the sight of the fleam, blooc 

 stick, and can do not create the groom's delight. The strangest fact is 

 that most rural proprietors love to see the purple life drained from tht 

 necks of their possessions ; and bitter are the reproaches usually lavishec 

 on the veterinarian should a horse perish of any disease without tht 

 fatal termination having been hastened by the favorite measure. In- 

 deed so fully are several country practitioners aware of this probability 

 that it is customary wifli them, when alone, to strike the vein and to pir 

 up the orifice immediately. The necessary sign can then be adduced 

 should death end the case ; and a professional reputation be thereby 

 saved from the assaults of aggravated stupidity. 



BAISINQ THE JUQCLAS VEIN. 



To show the necessity of venesection in most forms of disease, the 

 author must be pardoned if he intrudes upon the reader a portion of his 

 own experience. Some years ago a medical man, then residing in West- 

 bourne Terrace, kept a well-stocked stable. The family going out of 

 town during the autumn, some of the animals, much against the author's 

 opinion, were allowed a few weeks' "run at grass." 



When the horses were taken up, none were found to have been bene- 



