NEW BLEEDING TRAVIS                                 161

the travis with all the parts fitted up and ready to receive the animal. Plate V,
Figs. 2 and 3 are pictures of the same with the animal ready for bleeding. With
the devices mentioned above even the most refractory animals can be made to
stand still and so far, no case of accident has happened.

Bleeding.—Drawing blood from the jugular vein is known to all professional
people. They adopt very elaborate arrangements in sterilisation but those seem
to be unnecessary. An ordinary hypodermic needle and a swab of tincture iodine
are all that are necessary. The needle is sterilised by swabbing all over with tinc-
ture iodine and the seat of operation is also similarly treated. To draw blood
the skin at the site of operation is pinched by the left hand and raised, the needle
is then thrust into the subcutaneous tissue and after adjusting the length either
by drawing out or pushing in the needle, the point of the needle is brought near
the projecting vein, then by giving a sharp and gentle push the needle is thrust
into the vein which allows a free flow of blood. On the other hand if an attempt
is made to thrust the needle direct into the vein, the force exerted to pierce the skin
may displace the vein from its position and the needle is likely to miss the vein.
The blood is collected by holding a tube below as shown in Plate V, Fig. 4.
Blood samples are being taken by this method almost every alternate day and
there has not been a single case of any after-effect, not even the slightest swelling
at the site of bleeding.

Before concluding it may not be out of place to mention about the quality
of blood collected thus. As tincture iodine is freely used, the sample may not be
fit for iodine estimations. But absolute alcohol may replace iodine in case iodine
estimations are required. As regards sterility, this much can be said that the
use of this travis eliminates two sources of outside contamination namely the
ground and the bedding. For collecting sterile blood, therefore, this travis offers
definite advantages.

I acknowledge with profound gratitude the inspiring guidance given and
constant interest taken by Dr. F. J. Warth during the course of this work.

With great pleasure I also thank Mr. N. C. Das Gupta, B.Sc., Assistant to the
Physiological Chemist, for his valuable suggestions in perfecting this travis.

                                                 SUMMARY

A new travis for drawing blood for experimental purposes from animals in
standing posture is described with sketches and photographs,

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