B L E 



punftureJ, and tlien if they are drawn parallel to the direc- 

 tion of the vein, the lancet paffing between them, there is 

 lefs refinance than if they prcfented thcmfelves tranfverfely 

 to the blade, in which cafe they mud neceffarily be divided 

 before the incifion can talie place. 



The jugular vein, after bleeding, often ulcerates, and is 

 attended with the mod ferious ill confequences, the mifchief 

 extending in both direflions along the internal fiirface of the 

 vein, from the point of the ineilion ; the cavity of the vein, or 

 its canal becomes obliterated, and the irritation occafions a 

 th;cktnii!g of the cellular membrane furrounding the vein, 

 often to fome inches in depth. This, in general, if no ex- 

 ternal irritation happens, fnblides gradually, and difappears 

 without any farther ill confequences, and the vein is totally 

 loll on that fide : at other times, an oozing and dilcharge of 

 thin lymph takes place from the injured part, and a linus 

 forms, running moftly againft the courfe of the vein up the 

 reck, which, being freely opened, foon heals without farther 

 inconvenience. At other times, confiderable abfceffes form, 

 which are opened without danger, and the thickening of the 

 cellular membrane gradually fubfides, and the part heals. 

 Again, in others, the inflammation and ulceration extend 

 along the courfe of the vein to the head, forming abfcelTes, 

 which buril and difcharge blood, and the ulceration extend- 

 ing to the head becomes fatal. 



As prevention is often much eafier than cure, to avoid 

 this accident great care fhould be taken J.o ufe a clean in- 

 ftrumcnt, with a fmooth, keen edge, not to ftrike where the 

 vein has been already opened, vi'here very often is an enlarge- 

 ment, and the vein becomes tliinner in that part, and more 

 extended, not to include any thi-ig but the flvin in pinning it 

 up, and not to leave the pin remaining in the neck too long, to 

 become cankered and rully, and thus produce irritation. The 

 pin (hould be dipt as (hort as poflible, to prevent the horfe 

 rubbing it out againft the manger, S:c. 



The wound will in general clofc of itfelf after a few 

 minutes, if all prelFure upon the vein be removed, and fuffi- 

 ciently firm to (lop the efcape of the blood, if the lips of the 

 orifice are preffed together, without any pinning, and the 

 horfe's head, to rerfder it more certain, IhoulJ be tied rather 

 high to the rack for a (hort time ; where, however, the ori- 

 fice is very large, or the veins very tumid, and difpofed to 

 bleed, pinning is the fureft pradlice. 



Lancets are often made with a fpring, fuddenlv to plunge 

 them into the vein, and are ufefuUy and commodioufly em- 

 ployed for this operation, as they do it with great fuddcnnefs 

 and effetl, more fo than the hand or the blow of a blood- 

 ilick. The only objedlion is, that the inftrument, f^om the 

 pre(rure againft the neck required in ufing it, cannot be fo 

 fuddenly withdrawn as might be defirable, fo that if the 

 horfe plunges at the moment he might feverely cut himfelf, 

 which we have fcen happen. To prevent the pollibility of 

 fuch an occurrence, the indrument might be provided with 

 a fecond fpring to bring back the lancet to its (heath, or cafe, 

 immediately after the ftroke, which would render thisinftru. 

 jnent very ufeful and perfecl. 



BLEEDiNcyiow l/j^ "oje. See Epistaxij. 



'S>i.i.f.l>\tiG from ihe lungs. See H-'emopty sis. 



Bleeding Ly menfure, is where an account is taken of tha 

 quantity as it Hows from the vein, in order to put a ftop 

 to the flux when the requifite portion is had. 



Bleeding at large, where the flux is continued without 

 regard to the quantity, till fuch time as fome expected 

 elfeft is perceived. This method is fometimes ufed in cafes 

 of apoplexies, comata, &c. 



Bleeding of a corpfe, crueniat'io catiaveris, is a phenorae- 



B L E 



non faJd to have frequently happened in the bodies of per^ 

 fons murdered, which, on the touch, or even approach of 

 the murderer, began to bleed at the nofc, ears, and other 

 p^rts ; fo as formerly to he admitted in Englai.d, and tlill 

 allowed in fome other parts, as a fort of detection of the cri- 

 minal, and proof of the fadl. Phi). Tranf. N" 77. p. 301a. 

 But this kind of evidence derives its weight merely from 

 fuperrtitioii and credulity. Numerous inTlances of thefe 

 poilhumons hemorrhages are given by Webilcr, Lemnius, 

 Libavius, and efpecially Horftius, who has a difcourfe 

 exjjrefs on this point, under the title, " De Cruentatione 

 Cadaverum." 



Bleeding is alfo applied, in a lefs proper fenfe, to a fiux 

 of fap out of the wounded veffels of plants, either fpo.i- 

 tancoufly at certain Icalons, or by art, and the help of in. 

 ciGon. 



BLEGNY, Nicolas, in Biography, a bold, and, for a 

 time, fuccefsful adventurer in medicine, to wliich he was not 

 regularly educated. Dionis fays, he married a midwif-i, 

 which probably firft fuggefted the idea of becoming a rupture 

 doilor, and of contriving an elaltic bandage for th:'t con- 

 plaint. In 1676, he publilhed at Paris, " L'art de guerir 

 des hernies," i2m(). v.-hich has pan"cd through feveral edi- 

 tions. He ufed to cauterize the (kin of the groin with aqua 

 fortis, or the muriatic acid ; when the wound htaled, a firm 

 cicatrix was left, which contributed in preventing the further 

 defxnt of the gut. This remedy was invented by the prior 

 De Cabeveres. He relates ftveral remarkable cures per- 

 formed by him : . in one cafe, part of the urinary bladder had 

 flipped into the. ring. In 1679 ^^ publiflied, " Hiftoire 

 anatomique d un enfant, qui a demeure vingt cinque ans 

 dans le ventre de fa mere," Paris, I 2mo. The foetus was 

 faid to be petrified. It had acquired, from its long refidence 

 in the abdomen, and from the prefTure of the neighbouring 

 vifcera, an almoft cartilaginous hardnefs, and retained very 

 little of the human form. About the fame time, he com- 

 menced the publication of a medical Journal, under the title 

 of " Les nouvelles decouvertes, fur toutes les parties de la 

 medicine," of which one number came out every month, and 

 he fohcited and obtained affillance from a variety of pradti- 

 tiou'-rs ; he alfo contributed conlidcrably to it from his owa 

 ilock. His name appeared as the editor for the firil three 

 years, but was afterwards omitted. Bouet thouoht the 

 journal deferving of being tranflated into Latin, and publifhed 

 it at Geneva, in 410. under the title of " Zodiaci medico- 

 Gallici." He had before this made himfelf known by a 

 treatife on the venereal difeafe ; " L'Art de guerir les ma- 

 ladies veneriennes explique par les principes de la nature, et 

 de la mecanique," izmo. 2 vols. Paris. This was foon re- 

 publifhed, tranflated into German, Englifh, and other lan- 

 guages. He fays, the difeafe was known to the ancients, 

 and even to iMofes. It may be brought on, he thinks, by 

 immoderate veneiy. He objects to the ufe of aftringent in- 

 jeilions in the gonorrhoea, and profelTes to c\ire the lues, 

 equally certainly, and more fafcly, with decodions of guia- 

 cnm and farfjparilla, than with mercury. He had alfo pub- 

 hlhed, by order of his fjvereign, " Remede Anglois, pour 

 la guerifon des fievres," 1682, i2mo. The principal part 

 of this remedy was the Peruvian bark. He had now attained 

 to very high rank in his profefhon, having been made, in fuc- 

 cefTion, furgean to the queen, to Philip duke of Orieans, and, 

 in 16S7, one of the p'lyficians in ordinary to the king. Soon 

 after he undertook the management of an hofpital, for the 

 reception of the fickpoor at iPmcourt, but for fome immoral 

 praftices, encouraged in this place, a report of which was 

 made to the king, he was removed from all his appointments, 



and 



