250 
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF AIR 
himself down, and rolled over, and over and rubbed himself 
against every thing that would afford the slightest resistance. 
This singular phenomenon deserves the attention of the Aca¬ 
demy. It confirmed the opinion of Bichat, and seemed to de¬ 
monstrate that, in this case, the air had a peculiar effect on the left 
side of the brain. It is thus alone that we can explain the singu^ 
lar hemiplegia with which he was affected. 
As to the primitive disease—pneumonia—it pursued its usual 
course, and terminated favourably in about a month. 
I am inclined to draw the following conclusion from the case 
which I have just stated,—that when we bleed a horse from the 
jugular vein, we ought at the moment when we cease to compress 
the vein, to place the finger for a few seconds on the aperture, in 
order to give the superior column of blood time to fill the vacuum 
which has been made in the interior part of the vessel. By tak¬ 
ing this precaution, I think that we should always avoid the ac¬ 
cident which occurred to me, and which might be productive of 
the most injurious consequences, both to the veterinary surgeon 
and his patient.” 
There is a third case of this kind in a collection, yet unpub¬ 
lished, of practical facts, by M. Riss, of the Royal and Central 
Society of Agriculture. ** After having extracted abou tlO pounds 
of blood,” says he, at the moment when I withdrew the vessel 
that held it, and which at the same time had made the necessary 
pressure on the jugular, we heard a noise—a species of gurgling 
within the vein,—and we immediately afterwards saw a kind of 
bloody foam exuding from the orifice that had been made by 
the fleam. We immediately attributed it to the entrance of air 
into the jugular, and, instead of pinning up the orifice as I in¬ 
tended, I compressed thejugular anew, and tiok away about four 
pounds more of blood. 
Hitherto the animal did not appear to have suffered any injury, 
and I ordered him to be led back to the stable; but he had scarcely 
gone 40 or 50 paces before he suddenly stopped, staggered, fell, 
and began to beat himself with violence. He made several efforts 
to get up, but fell again immediately. Fearing that he would 
bruise himself sadly by these struggles, I caused him to be held 
as firmly down as possible. 
During the whole of this time—a quarter of an hour or more 
—his eyes rolled in their orbits ; his flanks heaved violently; his 
breathing was loud and precipitate; his ears, muzzle, and 
extremities became cold; the testicles were retracted into the 
abdomen, and the pulse was scarcely perceptible. 
“ I ordered frequent ablutions of cold water over his head and 
scrotum, and employed several men in rubbing him well all over. 
‘^By little and little the respiration became quieter and less 
