CH. II.] WHEN NECESSARY, AND QUANTITY. 559 



asmuch as they can plead " authority" either way 

 for what they do, is nevertheless demonstrably 

 ruled by wrong principles. The practice of bleed- 

 ing at given periods, be the quantity taken ever so 

 small, is most injudicious, to say no worse of it ; for 

 why should we employ a curative when there is 

 nothing to cure ? especially when we thereby sub- 

 tract from vitality itself. 



" Only bleed in cases of inflammation," say the 

 French farriers, and then they take a large quan- 

 tity, under the impression that taking a quart, or 

 little more, from a mass of two hundred and twenty 

 quarts, which is fairly calculated to reside in a 

 middling-sized horse, " is but trifling with the dis- 

 order." The existence of inflammation, or fever, 

 is to be ascertained by the state of the pulse, upon 

 which we were tolerably minute whilst speaking 

 of fever, &c. (See Index), the number of beats, 

 and the kind of vibrations, being well considered, 

 previously to taking the fleam in hand, when the 

 quantity drawn should be commensurate to the 

 extent of the disorder. Keep in mind, however, 

 the exceeding danger of mistaking one series of 

 febrile symptoms for another, as may be judged of 

 by turning to those of " low fever," at page 171, 

 when bleeding would destroy the horse. See also 

 pages 180. 187. Without question, if the operator 

 entertains a doubt about the symptoms as indicated 

 by the pulse, the least quantity he takes is likely to 

 perpetrate the smallest amount of harm ; whilst, if 

 he be correct in his observations, and has witnessed 



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