262 ADMISSION OF AIR INTO THE VEIN IN BLEEDING, 
was received was not large enough to contain the quantity 
which Mr. Bouley wished to take, he, on its being full, 
suspended the compression on the vein below the puncture, 
whilst the vessel was emptied. At the instant when the com¬ 
pression ceased, he heard a remarkable noise, which he had se¬ 
veral times noticed in the course of his practice, without any 
ill consequence following the event, and to which he now, there¬ 
fore, paid but little attention. The bleeding was completed, 
and the animal led into his stable. He had but just arrived 
there when he was affected with a general trembling; his 
breathing became laborious and plaintive ; his pulse small, ir¬ 
regular, and much accelerated; and, finally, he uttered some 
deep groans, and fell down in his stall ^^as if stricken by light¬ 
ning.^^ On reflecting on the whole of the circumstances of the 
case, Mr. Bouley believed that the noise he, heard, above al¬ 
luded to, arose from the rushing of air into the vein, and he in¬ 
stantly determined to draw more blood from the animal. As 
the blood flowed, the horse appeared to assume a new life 
he made some efforts to get on his legs, but did not succeed until 
the lapse of five or six minutes from the last bleeding. When 
up, his pulse became sensibly developed,and lost its rapidity; his 
breathing became deeper; and in half an hour from the time of 
the accident, he seemed to be in the same state as before the 
first bleeding."^ Some new phenomena were now observed. 
The horse experienced, during the whole of the afternoon of the 
same day, an extreme degree of sensibility of the w'hole of 
the right side of the body (the side opposite to that in which the 
venesection was practised), accompanied with very intense pru- 
itus: he laid down and rolled himself about on this side, to rub 
himself against any objects that offered resistance. 
The pneumonia run its usual course, and terminated fa¬ 
vourably. Thirty days after the accident the horse was put to 
his ordinaiy work, and has not since shown any sign of disease. 
Professor Dupuy, of Alfort, has mentioned that he had wit¬ 
nessed a similar accident, in which a second bleeding \vas also 
immediately effected. This case terminated favourably. Dr. 
Magendie doubts whether sufficient air was introduced to have 
proved mortal if the second blood-letting had not been resorted 
to. He injected some air (he does not say how^ much) into a 
vein of a dog, and then bied him; but the animal died as soon 
as if he had not been bled immediatelv after the introduction 
of the air.— Magendie's Joni’nal, So. 2. 
