was caught and
measured in a container. When enough blood had been collected, a needle
would be placed in the vein to stop the bleeding.

Horses were most frequently bled from the jugular vein in the neck, but
also from veins in the thigh, the fold at the junction of breast and
forelegs, the spur, the foreleg, the palate, and the toe.

Since applying the bloodstick required a degree of skill, the Germans
attempted to eliminate its use by adapting the spring lancet to veterinary
medicine. The common veterinary spring lancet (which sometimes was also
called a "fleam" or "phleme") was nothing but an oversized version of the
brass, nob end spring lancet used on humans. Sometimes the lancet was
provided with a blade guard that served to regulate the amount of blade
that penetrated the skin. Although the veterinary spring lancet was quite
popular in some quarters, the French preferred the simple foldout fleam as
a more convenient instrument.[198] (Figure 22.)

[Illustration: FIGURE 22.--Knob end spring lancet used on humans compared
to a knob end lancet used on horses and cattle. Note the blade guard on
the veterinary spring lancet. (NMHT 302606.09 and NMHT 218383 [M-9256]: SI
photo 76-7757.)]

In contrast to the few attempts made to modify the human spring lancet,
there were a large number of attempts to modify the veterinary spring
lancets. Veterinary spring lancets can be found with a wide assortment of
shapes and a wide variety of spring mechanisms. In the enlarged knob end
spring lancet, pushing upon the lever release simply sent the blade
forward into the skin. By a more complex mechanism, the blade could be
made to return after it was injected, or the blade could be made to sweep
out a curve as do the blades of the scarificator. Perhaps one of the
earliest attempts to introduce a more complex internal mechanism into the
veterinary spring lancets is found in John Weiss's "patent horse phlemes"
of 1828. The first model invented by Weiss was constructed on the
principle of the common fleam and bloodstick. As in the knob end spring
lancet, the spring acted as a hammer to drive the blade forward. In a
second improved "horse phleme," Weiss mounted the blade on a pivot so that
the blade swept out a semicircle when the spring was released.[199]

The Smithsonian collection contains a number of different types of
veterinary spring lancets. Perhaps this variety can best be illustrated by
looking at the two patent models i