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light buff-coloured jelly is found on the surface, 
an inflammatory state of the body is indicated ; 
but in order to render this criterion useful, the 
blood must not be taken from too small an orifice, 
nor should it be suffered to run down the sides 
of the vessel which: receives it. Blood drawn 
from a healthy horse very soon coagulates, and 
appears like an uniformly red jelly with a small 
quantity of fluid, resembling jelly, floating on its 
surface. ‘This red jelly may, by washing, be ren- 
dered of a light buff colour, and exactly resem- 
bles the buff or-size, as it is termed, of inflamed 
blood. The most healthy blood, therefore, con- 
tains this size, and the cause of its not being 
conspicuous in such blood is, that coagulation 
takes place before the red colouring matter can 
have time to separate from it. But as blood that 
is drawn from an animal labouring under general 
inflammation or fever always preserves its fluid- 
ity much longer than healthy blood, and as the 
red colouring particles are specifically heavier 
than the fluid with which they are mixed, they 
will of course be gradually subsiding as long as 
the mass continues fluid, leaving a coat of buff- 
coloured jelly on the surface.” “ Should a whitish 
or light buff-coloured jelly appear on the surface 
of the blood, after it has coagulated or settled, 
and should this jelly be of considerable thickness, 
rather firm, not easily penetrated by the finger, 
we may be satisfied that the horse’s complaint is 
inflammatory, that bleeding was a proper remedy, 
and that, if the symptoms continue, the operation 
may be repeated with advantage. But if the 
blood coagulates quickly, is uniformly of a dark 
liver colour, loose, and easily broken, with a con- 
siderable quantity of water upon its surface, it 
denotes debility, and shows that the disease 
arises from a weakness of the system, and that, 
instead of bleeding, tonic and cordial medicines 
are to be employed, with every thing that may 
tend to restore the animal’s strength.” 
When the flow of blood is stopped, the edges of 
the wound ought to be placed closely together, 
and made fast in that position by passing through 
them a small sharp pin. But in performing this 
operation, the skin ought not to be unduly drawn 
from the neck, else blood from the wound may 
lodge between the skin and the underlying mus- 
cles, and occasion an ugly and perhaps mischiev- 
ous swelling, A little tow or a few hairs may be 
Wrapped round the pin, so as to cover the whole 
face of the wound; and the horse’s head ought to be 
made fast for two or three hours, so as to prevent 
him from rubbing the wounded part against the 
manger. Ifthe wound be not pinned, the orifice 
may not close with sufficient firmness and expedi- 
tion to allow the horse soon to resume labour, espe- 
cially collar-work, with safety ; and if the animal 
have liberty to depress his head below the man- 
ger, the pressure of the column of blood ascend- 
ing in the neck, may occasion the rupture of the 
coagulum, and cause such a flow of blood as, if 
unobserved, may very seriously injure and per- 
I. 
BLEEDING. 
44.9 
haps destroy the animal. Yet pinning may, in 
certain circumstances, be omitted without bad 
consequences; and in the case of dogs and black 
cattle, it is very seldom practised. 
The operation of bleeding a horse sometimes 
induces a disease almost if not quite as bad as 
that which it is intended to cure. The wound 
becomes the seat of swelling and suppuration ; 
and the cut vein becomes inflamed and is event- 
ually obliterated. The most frequent cause of 
this disastrous issue is the improper closing up 
and subsequent treatment of the wound. If the 
edges of the wound are pinned ajar, a slight sup- 
puration may be occasioned by the contortion; and 
if the tow be so firmly wrapped round the pin 
that the pus cannot escape, inflammation first 
spreads upon the cellular membrane around the 
wound, and then upon the vein itself; yet the pro- 
egress of the inflammation may be arrested before 
the vein is attacked, by removing the pin, washing 
away the pus and the coagulated blood, and 
bathing the part with hot water or with a proper 
solution of sugar of lead three or four times a- 
day, and applying a poultice at night.—Again, if 
the pin be inserted unduly far from the edge of 
the orifice, the portion of the skin outside of it, 
becoming dead and detached as a dry scab, is so 
large an obstruction to the circulation, that, 
before its detachment can take place, suppura- 
tion is provoked, and occasions inflammation to 
attack the membranes and eventually the vein. 
—Farther, if the pin be passed through a large 
portion of one side of the wound, and scarcely if 
at all through the other, the parts are not brought 
into contact, and mischievous irritation is ex- 
cited.—Moreover, if the pin be inserted too near 
either end of the orifice, and a.single hair or any 
other minute foreign hody be enclosed, or even a 
portion of the coagulated blood be allowed to re- 
main, the same kind of disastrous effects may 
follow. Much depends also on the situation of 
the part in which the incision is made; for if 
the vein be opened lower than six inches down 
the neck from the point where it divides into 
three branches, and if the animal operated upon 
be a draught horse, the retardation of the circu- 
lation. of blood in the vein by the pressure of the 
collar, may cause the internal opening to break, 
and. occasion such an escape of blood beneath the 
integuments as will irritate and inflame the cel- 
lular membrane and eventually the vein. A 
horse, too, who has been accustomed to be reined 
up in harness, and who, after being bled, is sent 
to grass, will so hang his head in obtaining his 
food, as to retard the progress of the blood to the 
heart, and to make the weight of it press against 
the sides of the vein which was wounded, and 
which is not yet sufficiently healed; so that the 
orifice is ruptured, a portion of blood escapes be- 
neath the skin, and swelling and inflammation 
are produced. External irritation, also, such as 
friction from the rein of the bridle, or abrasion 
by the animal rubbing his neck against a post, 
2 
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