THE HORSE IN SICKNESS AND DISEASE 443 



by gently moving it about, motion in the jaws is induced, 

 and the stream of blood flows more rapidly from the action 

 of the muscles surrounding the vein ; but by keeping the 

 fingers of the left hand firmly pressed on the vein, so as to 

 obstruct the reflux of the blood, the stream will flow freely. 



Some persons consider it unnecessary to pin up the orifice 

 after bleeding. These bleedings may not renew, but we 

 would advise the edges of the wound to be brought close 

 together and kept in their place by a small pin being passed 

 through the contiguous skin, with a little tow wrapped 

 round the extremities of the pin, figure of eight fashion, so 

 as to cover the entire wound. The pin should not be large, 

 and care should be taken that no hairs are between the lips 

 of the cut. In bringing the edges of the wound together, 

 care should be taken not to draw the skin too much from 

 the neck, otherwise blood will insinuate itself between the 

 skin and the muscles, and cause a swelling which sometimes 

 proves troublesome. The edges of the wound will heal in 

 twenty-four hours, after which the pin may be withdrawn. 



Local, or Topical Bleeding. — The leading operation in 

 local bleeding is the puncture and division of the tcTiiporal 

 artery in inflammation of the brain. These vessels do not 

 supply the brain, it is true ; but by opening them an 

 artificial drain is made, through which much of the blood 

 escapes that would otherwise have gone to the brain ; besides 

 which, a large quantity of blood is abstracted in a short 

 time, when, perhaps, it would have been diflicult to have 

 bled from the neck at all, owing to the violence of the animal. 

 The lancet is here vastly safer than the common fleam. The 

 spot for its puncture, or division, is where the vessel leaves 

 the parotid gland to curve upward and forward round the 

 jaw, a little below its condyle. It affords much blood, and 

 when the desired quantity is taken, divide the vessel ; then 

 the parts will recede, lessening by their own contractility, 

 and the bleeding will stop. 



Bleeding from the Palate. — This is a favourite spot with 

 ignorant farriers, who recommend it in spasmodic colic and 

 stomach staggers, or megrims. Fatal haemorrhage has often 

 resulted from the incomplete severance of the palatine 

 artery. This artery and its vein run near each other on 

 each side the roof of the mouth, so as to divide the inner 

 surface of the hard palate into three nearly equal parts. 

 The vein only should be divided by plunging a lancet across 



