DKPLE'L’ION. 
461 
speedily involving the cerebral system, and rapidly exhausting 
the powers of nature. Then the object of the practitioner, 
whether human or veterinary, would be to allay, if possible, this 
dreadful state of excitation : to that point, and to that alone, his 
attention should be primarily directed. 
The first weapon would be depletion, and carried to its fullest 
extent. The vessel selected would be the jugular vein in the 
quadruped : the incision would be large, and the blood would be 
suffered to flow not only until a manifest change was produced in 
the action of the heart and arteries, and syncope supervened, but, 
the circulation beginning to return, the bleeding would recom¬ 
mence, and a second and longer fainting ensue. It is painful, 
however, to record the little permanent effect which even decisive 
treatment like this produces. 
A dog weighing about ten pounds, and evidently labouring 
under rabies, was subjected to copious venesection in my hospital. 
About six ounces of blood were first abstracted ; when he fainted, 
and scarcely rallied again for many an hour. On the following 
day he was again bled to syncope: four ounces alone could be 
abstracted. On the third day there was manifest but deceptive 
improvement—he ate and drank, and was gentle and tractable ; 
but towards evening the eyes closed and the head drooped, and 
the husky guttural sound in the throat returned, and he should 
have been bled again ; it was delayed, however, until the follow¬ 
ing morning, when five ounces more of blood were abstracted. 
He did not rally after this depletion, but died in the evening. 
This was the first experiment on the power of bleeding— 
others were afterwards made, with more system and with more 
decision. The result was uniform—the symptoms were invaria¬ 
bly mitigated, but the dog died. 
The same result has attended the adoption of venesection in 
the human being. It is of very ancient date, and it has been 
often resorted to in modern times. Bolingall mentions six cases 
in which the patients were bled ad deiujuium animi, without any 
better result than temporary alleviation of the symptoms. Dr. 
Rutherforth abstracted sixty-six ounces of blood from one patient, 
but he died. 
It had been imagined that the injection of warm water into 
the veins might have a more decided effect. This was put to the 
test of experiment. A white terrier, undeniably rabid, was the 
subject of the ex])eriment, and which was conducted in my hospital 
by Mr. Mayo. About seven ounces of blood were taken from 
the jugular vein, and nearly the same quantity of warm water 
injected. I’he dog struggled violently, so that the exact quan¬ 
tify abstracted and injected could not be ascertained ; but it was 
