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and they certainly went at a pace such as large ones seldom do.

I fear I have trespassed too long on your valuable pages; which, however, I can assure you I have only done in the hope that by calling the attention of your readers—who, I believe, are to be found in most parts of the world...................I always forward a copy of your Magazine to an old reader of yours in Bengal-to this subject, some abler pen than

mine may take it up-which it is really high time to do; as I have heard many say, that they would run the risk of being blown up on steam coaches (or infernal machines as they ought to be called), if they were established (which heaven avert their ever being!) to save the destruction of horses which takes place under the present system. Yours, &c. HIPPOS.

West Kent, Nov. 4, 1831.

MEDICAL TREATMENT OF ACCIDENTS IN THe field.

SIR,

You YOU will be doing a benefit to many of the readers of the Sporting Magazine if you will devote a page to a subject, which, though immediately connected with surgery, has also a very close connexion with the amusements of hunting and racing. This subject is the immediate management of persons who have received severe falls. It must be well known to you, that if a Gentleman is thrown from his horse in the field, and the business of the chase leaves any of his brother sportsmen at liberty to attend to him, these Gentlemen, with the kindest intentions, constitute themselves parties in a consultation with the Surgeon, if it happens that a Surgeon is out with the hounds that day, or that one is within call. When an individual has received a severe and stunning fall, and is insensible, or just beginning to recover his sensibility, he is commonly cold and pale, and the pulse is low, weak, and sometimes irregular. In consequence of the violent shock which his nervous system has received, the action of the heart and ar

teries is seriously disturbed, and the proper circulation of the blood materially interfered with: the blood in such cases hardly continues to circulate at all in the smaller vessels; and hence the coldness of the hands and feet and the general surface: hence too the lowness, faintness, and insensibility, the brain not receiving its usual supply of blood: hence also the weakness and irregularity of the pulse at the wrists. There is in fact a struggle going on between life and death: the blood is largely collected in the internal organs, but moves slowly, and therefore oppresses them. The heart cannot, for a time, recover the power to propel the blood more forcibly and put an end to this state: in the case of very violent falls it never does recover, and the unfortunate person dies without what is called reaction.

Now, Sir, I think it must be plain to you, although you may chance to know nothing of surgery, that the most sensible plan in such doubtful circumstances as these is to let the person who

has fallen be as little disturbed as possible, lest the little life left in him should be banished: the next best thing is obviously to give a little assistance to the heart, and enable it to propel the blood with more strength into the smaller vessels; and thus to relieve the internal organs which are oppressed, and to restore the warmth of the body, and to revive the energies of the brain.

This is exactly what an enlightened Surgeon, if left to himself, would do: he would guard his patient from too much disturbance, would wrap up his feet and legs, let him lie down in an easy posture, and give him, with much caution, some moderate stimulant : but, instead of this, what is usually done on these occasions?—The person who has received the hurt, and the Surgeon who is attending him, are surrounded by a crowd of Gentlemen besetting him, and loud

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in their entreaties that he should bleed the patient. At once the cries of "Bleed him, bleed him! he is a dead man if you do not bleed him!" are enough to bewilder the Surgeon altogether. Perhaps a Nobleman, or some Gentleman of great consequence, speaks to the Medical Man with still more authority, and presses his grave surprise and displeasure that he does not at once open a vein. The Surgeon knows full well that bleeding would be the worst thing he could do; but if he is a young man, he is overpowered by the multitude of cries-he hesitatesbegins to doubt whether what he has previously been taught be correct or not-and at length gives way. Fortunately it often happens, that when a vein is

opened the blood will not flow; but if there is yet strength enough left in the heart to propel the blood through the opened vein, every ounce that flows lessens the chance of recovery.

Even the old and experienced Surgeon is embarrassed by these circumstances. It is not pleasant to be surrounded by angry faces, and deafened by angry cries, and reproached too with timidity and ignorance; and that all this should be endured with firmness is more than we have generally reason to reckon upon. If the accident happens on a racecourse, matters are still worse. The crowd is clamorous and less polished, and the Surgeon runs the risk of being absolutely mobbed for doing his duty. Sometimes it happens that a bold half-drunken person, not acquainted with the simplest elements of surgery, takes the case out of the Doctor's hands, and bleeds the patient at random. Now all this arises from a misunderstanding of the nature of the case. The practice laid down by the best Surgeons of the present day, including Sir Astley Cooper, and the reasons for it, are such as have been already stated. the time for bleeding has not yet arrived. There is nothing existing which bleeding could benefit, and it may greatly increase the danger. After a few hours, if the patient recovers the first shock, his state will be altogether different; his feet, his hands, and skin will generally be warm, or even very hot; his pulse will be quick, the heart beating vigorously, perhaps impetuously; he will be in a state of some excitement, and probably complain of pain in his head or elsewhere.

This is the stage of reaction. The heart has recovered, and, by a curious law of Nature, is earnestly endeavoring as it were to repair the mischief that has been done, and the blood is circulating freely and rapidly. In this state the danger is changed. We have now to apprehend inflammationwe have now too much action; whereas before we had too little. Now, therefore, and now only, we must give no stimulant, but must abstract stimuli: now, and now only, it is useful and even safe to bleed.

As never a season passes, Mr. Editor, without accidents of the

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AMENDED RULES OF THE BIBURY CLUB.

THE
HE importance of Bibury
Races has very much in-
creased of late years. Originally
the horses were all the property
of, and rode by, Members of the
Club, no others being allowed:
but latterly jockeys have been
permitted to ride. Early in the
present season several Members
having suggested the propriety

of revising the Rules of the Club, a general Meeting of the Members was held at Stockbridge; when the following Rules were adopted, subject to confirmation at the Meeting next year, except the Sixth Rule, which was unanimously passed, and ordered to be acted on immediately:

-:

1. To meet annually to dine at Stockbridge on the day before the Races

commence.

2. That the Steward fix the hour of starting for each race by ten o'clock the evening before running, allowing a quarter of an hour from one race to the time of saddling for the next, and a quarter of an hour from that time to the time of starting.

3. That every groom shall have his horse at the five minutes of the time appointed by the Steward. there ready to start within the same time. And making default herein shall forfeit 51., to be paid to him accounted for to the Club.

post ready to start within And every jockey is to be every groom and jockey Mr. Weatherby, and by

4. That every Member of the Club, excepting those abroad, subscribe Four Guineas annually; to be paid to Mr.Weatherby, in London, on the first of May.

5. That any person desirous of belonging to the Club must be proposed by a Member; and be ballotted for at an ensuing Meeting:-ten Members to make a ballot, and two black balls to exclude.

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6. That a person, though chosen, shall not be considered as a Member of the Club, until he shall have paid the usual sum for the admission and subscription of a new Member. And the name of every Member whose subscription shall be in arrear at the time of the races shall, on the second day of the races, placed over the chimney-piece at the place of Meeting, and afterwards in Mr. Weatherby's Office; and if such arrear be not paid by the end of the following meeting, he shall cease to be a Member, and shall not be again admitted as a Member until his arrears be paid, and until he be again chosen by ballot; but he shall always be considered liable for the arrears left unpaid at the time of his name being struck out.

7. That all new Members pay Five Guineas on their admission, exclusively of the subscription of Four Guineas for the year; and that they be requested to sign an order on their banker or agent, in London, for the annual payment of the subscription of Four Guineas to Mr. Weatherby.

8. That all horses, &c. that start for any of the Bibury Plates, Sweepstakes, or Subscriptions, be bona fide the property of the Members of the Club.

9. That no individual Member, or joint confederates, be allowed to start more than one horse, &c. for any of the Bibury Plates, Sweepstakes, or Subscriptions; and that, in case of confederacy, all the parties concerned be Members of the Club.

10. That all Stakes and Forfeits be paid to Mr. Weatherby before starting; and that they be made in Cash, Bank Bills, Bank Post Bills properly endorsed, Bankers' Notes payable to bearer, or Bankers' Notes payable to order, also properly endorsed; and for the due execution of this rule Mr. Weatherby be held responsible.

11. That no horse, &c. be allowed to start, either for Matches or Sweepstakes unless his owner shall have previously made his Stake.

12. That no person be allowed to start or ride any Horse, Mare, or Gelding, for Plate, Subscription, Match, or Sweepstakes, unless he shall have paid all former Subscriptions, Stakes, and Forfeits, by eight o'clock the evening before running.

13. That for all prizes, where particular qualifications are required, the Colour, Age, and Pedigree of the horses named be specified; and in case the Pedigree and Age cannot be ascertained, the person's name of whom the horse was bought be expressed.

14. That any Member who shall be discovered, though at any distance of time, to have started an unqualified horse, &c. for any Plate, Subscription, or Sweepstakes, shall forfeit Ten Guineas to the Club; and, if a winner, refund the Prize to the owner of the first horse duly qualified: but in case of such disqualification, all bets are to be paid as if the horse who went in first was entitled to the Prize.

15. That when any Match or Sweepstakes shall be made, and no weight specified, the horses, &c. shall carry, if Jockeys ride, 8st. 7lb., and, if Gentlemen ride, 11st. 7lb.; and if no distance be specified, they shall run two miles; and if weight is given, the highest weight shall be 8st. 7lb. or 11st. 7lb.

16. That no race be run with heats.

17. That Gen. Grosvenor, Lord Jersey, Mr. Dundas, Mr. Pryse, Mr. Rawlinson, Mr. Thornhill, and the Steward for the time being, be a Committee for managing the affairs of the Club.

18. That the Committee be responsible for all money collected (including the forfeits) for the use of the Club: that they annually appoint a Stew

ard, not being one of their own body; and that they, or any three of them, determine all disputes.

The following Noblemen and Gentlemen have recently become Members:

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A FEW LINES TO NATIVE ON HIS DORSETIAN SKETCH.

SIR,

ON N reading the account given by A NATIVE of the Blandford Races in your Number for last month, I could not avoid being struck with the many errors perpetrated by him in his would-be witty "Dorsetian Sketch." I should imagine, instead of his being a thoroughbred "native" of that sporting county, Dorset, that he must be a "native" of Greenlandshire. His account of the races convinces me that he is no sporting man as far as racing goes; and further, that he was no eye-witness of the running which took place among the "terrible high-bred cattle" that contended for the various prizes at the last Blandford Meeting. He makes a lame apology at the finale for the many mistakes which he may have committed in his "Sketch" -offering as an excuse that he had lost his catalogue! This remark savours too shoplike, and, in my opinion, stamps this NATIVE as some auctioneer's clerk; as I never before heard a list of the running horses, with the names, weights, and colours of the riders," yclept "a catalogue."

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I had no list; yet, being a spectator, I have the running as firmly impressed on my memory as if it took place but yesterday. When a man makes an attempt, however humble or ambitious it may be, yet I like to see that man get through his task like a workman, and not flounder in the mud as NATIVE does at every stride. If NATIVE found his memory treacherous, why did he attempt the thing? If he could not give a correct return of the running, wherefore was the necessity of his giving any-especially giving one calculated only to mislead?

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In the first place, he states that the race for the Gold Cup, between Wassailer, Terror, Cornelian, and Bacchanal, was not much of a race." What the devil does he call racing? Wassailer won with the greatest difficulty by a nose, both horses (Wassailer and Terror) being neck and neck home from the distance post, and each at the top of his speedhaving a quantum sufficit of whip and spur administered to make them do their utmost to win. In fact it was a tremendous race

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