BLEEDING. 75 



not very violent, it may generally be removed by bleeding ; 

 which, as it has formed a principal feature for the last few pages, 

 it may not be amiss to say a word or two on the best mode of 

 performing the operation, under a distinct head. 



BLEEDING. 



In speaking on this subject, I am not supposing that the 

 sportsman is a member of the medical profession in any of its 

 branches, but sufficiently skilled in anatomy to know a vein from 

 an artery, which is all the knowledge requisite for performing 

 the operation of bleeding a dog. A vein* maybe distinguish- 

 ed from an artery by its having no pulsation ; if an artery of 

 any consequence should be divided, the blood will flow in irregu- 

 lar gushes, it will be difficult to stop (for I know of no other 

 method than sewing it up) and may cause the death of the dog. 

 However, there is little danger of such an unpleasant circum- 

 stance happening, and an ordinary degree of attention is quite 

 sufficient to obviate it. The most convenient, and the best place 

 to bleed a dog, is to open a vein (the jugular vein) in the side 

 of the neck, round which a cord should be tied ; and if the 

 sportsman is not expert at handling a lancet, he may purchase a 

 fleam at any of the shops where surgical instruments are sold, 

 which, by means of springs, is so contrived that the greatest 



* A vein carries back the blood to the heart ; an artery brings the 

 blood from the heart. 



