REMARKS ON BLOODLETTING. 93 



derived from the blood." If the latter are derived from the 

 blood, (and we know it is so,) then what inconsistency there 

 is in medical authors to recommend bloodletting, with a view 

 of improving the strength and spirit, when they are depriving 

 the system of that on which the very life of the animal 

 depends. 



Our readers may say, horses and cattle are bled and get 

 well. Suppose they do, — is it thus proved that more would 

 not get well if no blood were drawn from any ? If the ab- 

 straction of a certain number of gallons of blood will kill a 

 strong horse, then the abstraction of a small quantity will 

 injure him proportionally. We have already shown that 

 there is in the animal economy a power which always oper- 

 ates in favor of health ; if the provocation is gentle, this 

 power may overcome both it and the disease, and the animal 

 is considered cured merely because the symptoms that marked 

 the character of the malady disappear. The appearance of 

 symptoms of another order, and perhaps not so alarming in 

 their nature, lead men to suppose they have performed a cure ; 

 when, in fact, they have just sown the seeds of a future 

 disease. 



We do not propose to show definitely how a horse gets 

 well in spite of bloodletting. It is enough for us to prove 

 that this operation always tends to death, which can easily 

 be done by conducting the process till no blood remains. 



In cases of congestion, or a determination of blood to a 

 vital organ, we find a want of action on the surface and at 

 the extremities. The course we invariably pursue is to equal- 

 ize the circulation, and invite the blood to the surface by 

 warmth, moisture, friction, and counter irritants, and maintain 

 it there by the administration of relaxants and diffusible 

 stimulants. These latter must be of a harmless nature, as 

 we find them compounded in the forest and field, by the 

 Great Physician, the All-wise Creator. 



Many interesting experiments have been made to estimate 

 the quantity of blood contained in an animal. " The weight 

 of a dog, says Mr. Percival, being ascertained to be 79 



