HUNTING DIRECTORY. 



Bleeding. 



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

 of performing the operation under a distinct head. 



Bleed'mg. — In speaking on this subject, I am not sup- 

 posing that the huntsman 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* may be distinguished from an 

 artery by its having no pulsation ; if an artery of any 

 consequence should be divided, the blood will flow in 

 irregular gushes, it will be difficult to stop, and may cause 

 the death of the dog. However, there is little danger 

 of such an unpleasant circumstance 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) longitudinally, in 

 the side of the neck, round which a cord should be first 

 tied ; and if the huntsman 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 bungler need 

 be under no apprehension. Those who sell this instru- 

 ment will describe the method of using it, which indeed 

 is so obvious at first view as to render elucidation super- 

 fluous in this place. 



If, after the vein is opened, the animal should not 

 bleed freely, pressure a little below the orifice will cause 

 the blood to flow. When sufficient Ijlood has been 



* An artery brings the blood from the heart ; a vein carries back the 

 blood to the heart. 



