140 



ANIMAL MECHANICS. 



large- sized man; in the course of the operation the external 

 epigastric artery, which appeared enlarged to feed the tumour, 

 was divided, and before it could be ligatured, strong jets of 

 blood from it were thrown in various directions about the 

 room. I noticed, as the poor fellow moved about on the 

 operating table, that the jets of blood fell short, or enjoyed a 

 long range, according to the angle of elevation of the orifice 

 of the bleeding artery, and that there was a certain maxi- 

 mum range on the floor of the theatre, which was not 

 exceeded. 



1 saw immediately that I had before my eyes the solution 

 of the problem that had puzzled me ; as by measuring the 

 co-ordinates of the maximum range, I could calculate the 

 velocity with which the blood left the artery. 



In the annexed figure, which is drawn to scale, let A re- 

 present the orifice of the artery, and B the position of the fa) - 



C 



Fig 20. 



thest squirt of blood on the floor ; OA was found to be 3 ft. 

 6 in., and OB was 8 ft. It is well known that .4 X, the direc- 



