62 GENERAL THERAPEUTICS FOR VETERINARIANS 



tenth) and least in swine (one-twentieth). The distribution of the 

 blood is of importance in therapeutics. While the body is at rest 

 one-fourth of the blood is contained in each of the following sec- 

 tions: the heart and large blood-vessels; the liver; the muscles; the 

 other organs; but during work the muscles contain up to two- 

 thirds of the total quantity. 



Therapeutic Methods. — ^The quantity, composition and dis- 

 tribution of the blood in disease can be affected in very different 

 ways. The dietetic method supplies to the diseased blood Blood- 

 forming substances (blood plastics) of all kinds (proteids, iron, 

 salts). The chemical method combats infectious agents contained 

 in the blood by the introduction of arsenical preparations into the 

 blood stream (chemotherapy); serum therapy acts in the same 

 manner. The mechanical method seeks to influence blood forma- 

 tion indirectly by systematic stimulation of the muscles (muscle 

 therapy, training, massage). The operative method consists in 

 the introduction of fresh, healthy blood (transfusion) and the 

 removal of diseased blood (phlebotomy). 



Transfusion, i.e., the direct or indirect transfer of blood from a 

 healthy individual to the blood stream of a diseased individual, 

 appears theoretically to be very rational. In practice, however, 

 it has not proven satisfactory. The transfusion of non-defibrin- 

 ated blood is dangerous to life (fibrin emboli), and the transfusion 

 of defibrinated blood has at times been attended with serious 

 disturbances (rigors, albuminuria, anaphylaxis). The effects of 

 the transfusion of animal blood (lamb's blood) into man consist of 

 hyperasmia and serous infiltration of the internal parts of the body, 

 high transfusion fever and a change in the composition of the 

 blood. Experience in human medicine has also taught that the 

 danger from excessive bleeding is not so much from the decrease of 

 red blood-cells as from the volume of the blood being insufficient to 

 fill the heart and vessels, and for this reason the injection of a 

 simple physiological salt solution, subcutaneously or intravenously, 

 will save life in such cases. 



In regard to the effect of phlebotomy on the blood, practical 

 experience and scientific investigation are not in accord. Small, 



