450 BLEEDING. 
sometimes produces the same effects. Other 
causes, though of less frequent occurrence, are 
bluntness and rustiness in the phleme or lancet, 
the adhesion of particles of dust to the inner 
edges of the wound, the hacking repetition of the 
incision before the blood is made to flow, the re- 
opening of the wound after an interval of some 
hours for the taking away of more blood, and the 
accidental destruction, in any manner, of the 
coagulable lymph which holds the edges of the 
wounds together during the early period of the 
process of healing. These several and diversified 
causes of inflamed vein, show the dangers which 
attend the operation of bleeding, and suggest the 
precautions with which that operation ought to 
be performed; but the disease which they pro- 
duce is so distinct and serious, as to be a proper 
subject for separate discussion. See the article 
InFLAMED VEIN. 
The bleeding of neat cattle is a strictly similar 
operation to that of the bleeding of horses ; yet 
may require one or two particular remarks. A 
rope or strap is usually passed round the neck, 
and made pretty tight, in order to raise the 
vein; but this occasionally produces alarming 
symptoms, and ought to be dispensed with by 
every regular practitioner. The pressure of the 
finger, as in the case of the horse, ought to be 
quite sufficient for raising the vein. The lancet 
is the instrument most suitable to be employed ; 
and it ought to be broader-shouldered than the 
lancet used for the horse. Yet when a mere 
rustic or the farmer himself, and not a skilful 
practitioner, performs the operation, he ought to 
use the old phleme and bloodstick. Inflamed 
vein is sometimes occasioned in as bad a form in 
the ox asin the horse; and it ought to be guarded 
against by similar precautions; and, when pro- 
duced, must be cured or alleviated by similar 
remedies, 
When a sheep is about to be bled from the 
jugular vein, he is held between the limbs of the 
operator, with his croup against a wall. The 
operator, with his left hand, presses upon the 
vein a little below the spot where he intends to 
cut it; and, with his right hand, makes an ob- 
lique incision in the vein, at the spot where it is 
largest, and can be most distinctly felt through 
the skin. The obliquity of the incision secures a 
better flow of blood, than a cut either along the 
vein or across it. But when bleeding from the 
jugular vein is undesirable, a large vein which 
passes from the foot along the back part of the 
leg to the ham, and then goes obliquely over to 
the fore part of the limb, may be selected ; and 
this vein is nearest the surface and sufficiently 
large for the operation, at a spot a little above 
the knee. The operation in this case is best per- 
formed by securing the other three feet of the 
animal, grasping the limb above the place where 
the vein is to be opened, causing it to swell to 
a state of sufficient development, and making 
an oblique incision in it similar to what we have 
BLIGHT. 
recommended in the case of the jugular vein.— 
A diseased or ruptured bleeding, as from the 
navel or from wounds, will form the topic of a 
separate notice. See the article TmmorrHace.— 
Gibson on the Diseases of Horses —Mackenzie on 
the Duseases of Sheep.—Papers of Mr, Dick in 
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.—Clater’s Cattle- 
Doctor.— Youatt on Catile— Youatt on the Horse.— 
Spooner on Sheep.—White’s Veterinary. 
BLEMISH. Any feature of a plant or an ani- 
mal which mars its beauty or deteriorates its 
value, without seriously injuring its utility. 
BLETIA. A genus of interesting, exotic, hot- 
house plants, of the orchis tribe. About 15 or 16 
species have been introduced to Great Britain, 
principally from the West Indies, China, and the 
extreme south of North America; and three of 
these species are herbaceous, and all the others 
tuberous-rooted. — Tankerville’s species, Bletia 
Tankervillie, is a splendid plant, and has become 
a great favourite with the higher order of gar- 
deners. 
attains a height of about two feet, and carries a 
whitish brown flower in March and April. Mr. 
Otto, the inspector of the Berlin Botanic garden, 
regarded this plant as an epiphyte, and made 
experimental observations on its culture; and 
he recommends it to be grown in plunged pots, 
filled with equal parts of river sand, peat earth, 
and leaf mould, and very sparingly watered while 
the roots are not in a growing state-—The modest 
species, Bletia verecunda, was introduced from the 
West Indies in 1733, and was known for a con- 
siderable time as a bastard hellebore, under the 
name of Limodorum altum. It grows to the 
height of three feet, and produces a purple flower 
from January till May.—The hyacinthine species, 
Bletia hyacinthina, is a great beauty, introduced 
about 40 years ago from China. It grows to the 
height of about one foot, and carries a purple 
flower from March till June. It withstood the 
frost in the open air, in the Botanic garden of 
Bury St. Edmunds, during the winter of 1830-31, 
without any other protection than such as was 
afforded by its position at the base of an east 
wall. The florid, the headed, the pallid, and the 
spreading-flowered species are also very beauti- 
ful, and all the other introduced species are or- 
namental. 
BLIGHT, or Buast. Any disease which seri- 
ously damages or totally prevents the fructifica- 
tion of a crop. It was longa subject of bewilder- 
ment and apprehension to both farmers and gar- 
deners; and is still talked of by many cultivators 
in a looseness of phraseology wretchedly out of 
keeping with the enlightenment of the nineteenth 
century. It was regarded by the ancient Greeks 
as a blast from the offended deities, quite super- 
natural in its origin, and altogether irremediable 
in its influence ; it was known among the ancient 
Romans under the name of rubigo, and supposed 
to be a scourge in the hand of a particular deity, 
whom they called Rubigus; and it was ascribed, 
It was introduced from China in 1778,. 
