ELEMENTARY LECTURES

ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND PATHOLOGY

ESSAYED ON THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES

veterinary surgeon percivall,

Of the Royal Regiment of Artillery.

To watch, to scrutinize, to inqnire, is labour, and labour is pain. To confide,
to taKe for granted that all is well, is easy, is exempt from labour, and, to the great
mass of mankind, comparatively delightful."�Mills' History of British India.

' Those who seek truth only freely expose their principles to the test, and are
pleased to have them examined."� Locke.

PRINTED BJT JOHN HILL, BLACKFRIAHS J

f<V And published by

LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,
� Paternoster Row.

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.

'Vtttvimvvi jHrtrical IS^amintng QommitUt,

DISTINGUISHED TEJCHERS
OF

WITH LIBERALITY UNPRECEDENTED,

Have gratuitously opened to

�f)e "Ftttvimvn Pupil,

SOURCES OF HIS FUNDAMENTAL MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE,

Are inscribed, in testimony of

RESPECT, ESTEEM, AND GRATITUDE,

By their most devoted Servant,

�dN elementary zeork on veterinary subjects, should it be
deemed worthy of a place among the many approved in-
troductions to various other branches of science, has lit-
tle need of commendation, and none of excuse, in making
its appearance before the public. Too long have the mem-'
bers of the profession experienced the inconvenience of not
having by them some accurate synopsis of the scattered
elements of their art; too long, indeed, have the medical
profession in general looked forward to some scientific pro-
duction of this nature.

But, could we plead this pressing demand�this deside-
ratum in veterinary literature, as an apology for obtruding
ourselves thus early upon public notice, it might still be
regarded as an unqualified act in us, to attempt the ex-
position of the principles of an art of which the prof essors
themselves have only published on detached parts. Con-
ceiving, however, that the present essays, (in the form of
lectures,) concise as they confessedly are, might prove use-
ful in the absence of more elaborate composition, and daily
witnessing the pernicious influence of books on farriery,
written by individuals unacquainted even with the rudi-

ments of the art they treat on, we have ventured, tiotwith-
standing the above acknowledged truth, we fear prejudi-
cial to them in the minds of some, to lay them, in their
present state, before the public.

Having offered our reasons for undertaking a work, we
hope, at some future period, to be able to complete; it only
remains to crave for it> that liberal examination, and in-
dulgent censure, for which those eminent characters, to
whose protection we have consigned it, are so universally
and so justly esteemed: assuring them, that, however un-
finished the superstructure may be found, the foundation
has been laid in practical investigations, anatomical and
pathological, in an ample field of observation and ejrpe-
rience.

Royal Horse Infirmary, Woolwich,
May, 1823.

Page
Introduction ��«�«...............................-....*<��■ ix

LECTURE I.
OntheBlood ............................................. 1

LECTURE II.
On the Blood�Serum�Red Globules�Coagulable Lymph�Diseases
of the Blood�Venesection................................ IS

LECTURE III.
On the Arteries ........................................... 32

LECTURE IV.
On the Physiology of Arteries�Pulse.......................... 43

LECTURE V.
On the Diseases of Arteries�Inflammation.................... 56

LECTURE VI.
On Veins�Physiology of Veins �Diseases of Veins�Blood-spavin

�Wounds of Veins _a...................�................. 86

LECTURE VII.
On the Absorbents�Absorbent Glands.......,................ 107"

LECTURE VIII.
On the Physiology of Absorbents�Diseases of Absorbents ........ 118

LECTURE IX.
On Cellular Membrane�Diseases of Cellular Membrane .......... 131

On the Brain and Nervous System�Brain�Nerves�Physiology of
the Brain and Nerves..................................... 144

LECTURE XI.
On Neurotomy�Diseases of the Nerves�Tetanus ..."............ 168

On the Muscles�Tendons�Diseases of Tendons�Bursa? Mucosa?�
Diseases of Bursa; Mucosas................................. 196

On the Physiology of Muscles�Diseases of Muscles�Stringhalt�

Palsy .................................................. 216

On Glands�Secretion�Diseases of Glands .................... 251

On Bones�Diseases of Bones�Exostosis�Marrow ............. 234

On Cartilage�Diseases of Cartilage�Ligaments and Joints�Dis-
eases of Joints�Ossification�Division of Bones�Prominences and
Cavities of Bones........................................ 262

On the Skeleton�Spine �True Vertebra;�Cervical Vertebra?�Dor-
sal Vertebrae�Lumbar Vertebra?�Os Sacrum�Ossa Coccygis�
Diseases of the Spine�Fracture and Anchylosis .............. 287

Pelvis�Ossa Innominata�Sternum�Cosla?�Bones of the Fore Ex-
tremity�Scapula�Os Humeri�Radius et Ulna.............. 305

LECTURE XIX.
Carpus�Os Scaphoides�Os Lunare�Os Cuneiforme�Os Trapezium
-�Os Trapezoides�Os Magnum�Os Unciforme�Os Pisiforme�
Bones of the Leg�Os Metacarpi Magnum�Ossa Metacarpi Parva
�Diseases of the Metacarpal Bones�Splint.................. 318

LECTURE XX.
Os Suffraginis�Ossa Sesamoidea�Os Corona?�Diseases of the Pas-
tern Bones�Ringbone�Os Naviculare�Os Pedis--Diseases of
the Navicular and Coffin Bones............................ 330

Bones of the Hind Extremity.�Os Femoris�Patella�Tibia et Fi-
bnla�On the Tarsus�Astragalus�Os Calcis�Os Cuboides�Os
Cuneiforme Magnum�Os Cuneiforme Medinm�Os Cuneiforme
Parvum�Os Metatarsi Magnum�Diseases of the Bones of the
Hock�Spavin.......................................... 343

Bones of the Head�Bones of the Cranium�Ossa Frontis�Ossa
Parielalia�Ossa Temporum�Pars Squamosa�Pars Petrosa�Os
Occipitis�Os Sphenoides�Os Ethmoides.................... 359

Bones of the Face�Ossa Nasi�Ossa Unguis�Ossa Malarum�Os-
sa Maxillaria Superiora�Ossa Maxillaria Anteriora�Ossa Palati
�Ossa Spongiosa vel Turbinata, superiora et infenora�Vomer�
Maxilla inferior vel posterior�Diseases of the Bones of the Head 368

The Veterinary Art, according toils present ac-
ceptation, comprehends a knowledge of the external form,
as well as the internal structure and economy, of our
principal domestic quadrupeds; their appropriate ma-
nagement; the nature, causes, and treatment of their dis-
eases ; and the art of shoeing such as require it.

The horse, and his varieties�the mule and ass, the
dog, the ox, the sheep, the pig, and some others, come
equally under the ministering hand of the veterinary sur-
geon : the comparative value however of the horse, desig-
nates him as the object of his primary, we had almost
said his sole consideration ; so that the rest, regarded as
another and an inferior class, have but little of his time
or study devoted to them.

The veterinary art, become a science, alone preceded
in practical benefit by that of medicine, of which it is a
luxuriant and aspiring branch, has for its objects the pre-
servation in health, and restoration from disease, of an
animal nearest to man himself in the scale of animated

nature; whether we contemplate his beauty, his worth,
or his general and extensive use. Perhaps no age, nor
country, has so elevated the horse beyond the common
level of the brute creation as this : he is housed, clothed,
and fed, at a cost only exceeded by that appropriated to
his master, to whose gains he is instrumental, or to whose
diversions he is indispensable ; his life is watched with a
peculiar care, and his loss too often irreparable. If the
veterinary art be estimated as beneficial and important in
exact ratio to the value of the animal to whose well-being
all its objects are directed, surely at no antecedent period
has it merited the same degree of encouragement as at
the present: should we, therefore, not have been suc-
cessfully engaged in our efforts to cultivate and improve
it, let us hope, at least, that such attempts are deserving
of commendation !

Had it not been for the fostering patronage of some of
the most exalted characters in this country, the veterinary
art must still have lain prostrate at the feet of ignorance
and superstition; no less a personage, however, than our
magnanimous King himself, ever distinguished for pro-
moting that which is nationally useful and beneficial, has
deigned to raise it into importance and respectability, in
appearing as the Patron of the Veterinary College. Were
not this of itself full and sufficient testimony of the pre-
sent consideration of our art, we might adduce that very
respectable and honorable list of governors of the insti-

INTRODUCTION. XI

tution, the bare perusal of which will evince, that the
nobility, the talent, and the wealth of our nation, have
subscribed to its protection, its advancement, and its dif-
fusion.

But let us descend a little into detail�we shall findj
by pure and plain matter of fact, that, prior to its being
grafted upon the luxuriant stock of science, great num-
bers of our horses became prematurely unserviceable :
the natural consequence of which was heavy and continual
national expenditure; not to glance at the ineffective
state to which our cavalry and other horse departments
were necessarily reduced. Let us take, by way of exam-
ple, the present system of shoeing horses. In the course
of a long experience we have ascertained, that, by a skil-
ful performance of this branch of our art, we can prevent
many of the diseases, and them the most formidable, to
which the foot of the horse is liable ; enable horses to go
with ease to themselves, and safety to their riders; and
preserve them to use to a much longer period than here-
tofore. On the other hand, to sketch a picture of the me-
lancholy effects resulting from the practice of shoeing in
the hands of professionally unscientific persons, when the
horses belonging to the Honorable Board of Ordnance
were first placed under the superintendance of veterinary
surgeons, numbers of them, highly valuable in other re-
spects, were cast for death purely because their feet were
incurably diseased. Thrush, and its sequel canker, corns,

grease, aud all those varieties of disorganization induced
by mal-treated inflammation of the parts within the hoof,
consigned multitudes of them to the knacker's knife :
whereas, since the eye of science has controled the hand
of the smith, we will venture to assert, that not a single
horse has been lost to the service from either of the above-
named diseases; arid that at the present day the three first
�viz. thrush, canker, and corns, are almost unknown ;
and the last of so rare occurrence, that there are not ad-
mitted into the Infirmary a dozen cases in the course of the
year. We might bring forward here many�very many
other instances of the benefit, not more obvious than great
and permanent,. the country has experienced from the
practice of our art under the direction of those acquaint-
ed with its principles : but we trust that the one here ad-
duced, which a reference to recorded statements will at
any time evince the truth of, stands in need of support
from no concomitant, nor lacks confirmation from any
corroborative evidence.

To the breeder�to the proprietor of a large stud*�
to the gentleman of the turf�and to every individual who
feels an interest in the well-being of his horse, the veteri-
nary art cannot but appear in a most favorable light. The
first, by enabling him to trace out the perfections and

* By the word stud is popularly and here meant, a collection of
horses simply.

INTRODUCTION. XH1

imperfections of male and female, by developing the na-
ture of those diseases to which each may be disposed, and
by informing him what are and what are not ingenerate,
it renders competent to produce, by certain unerring laws,
an improved and matchless progeny; to the second it is
both useful and profitable, in teaching him the means of
prevention, as well as those of palliation and cure, of dis-
order in his stud ; the third it fills with renewed hope, in
having restored to the goal of contention, his broken-
down but celebrated racer; the last it contributes in no
trifling degree even to the happiness of, in administering
to those maladies which his old and favorite horse may
have contracted in his service.

To the enlightened practitioners of medicine of the
present day, we need say but little to convince them, that
veterinary inquirers may, from time to time, by extensive
opportunities in comparative anatomy, add something to
the general fund of medical knowledge ; and that, so far,
they may now and then consult veterinary works with ad-
vantage. Indeed, so much analogy is there throughout,
between the structure and economy of the horse and
those of the human subject, and so alike are the chief
phenomena of pathology, that the surgeon has but little
to do to become the veterinary surgeon, though the con-
verse of this, unfortunately for the latter, by no means
obtains. And where is the surgeon who would not him-
self direct the treatment of his sick or lame horse, in pre-

xiv INTRODUCTION.

ference to calling in the village blacksmith?�a man
whose knowledge is necessarily confined to that of nail-
ing the shoe to the foot ? He would not permit a shoe-
maker to visit one of his own patients, why should he al-
low the blacksmith to prescribe for his horse? The the-
ory of medicine in the human subject, is the theory of
medicine in the brute ; it is the application of that theory
�the practice alone that is different: whether we pre-
scribe for a man, or a horse, a dog, or a cat, the laws
of the animal economy are the same in all, and one, and
that an unerring system of principles, built upon ascer-
tained and established truths, is to dictate our practice in
all. We might as well, in reference to the principles of
each, attempt to separate surgery from medicine, as insist
that either of these arts, in theory, is essentially different
from the veterinary : every day's experience only serves to
confirm this�our belief; in shewing us how often the dis-
eases of a horse arise from the same causes as those of a
man, exhibit the same indications, and require a similar
method of cure. Were this not true, how is it that the
testimonial for practice�the diploma cf a veterinary sur-
geon, owes its stamp of importance and indisputable
qualification to the signatures of practitioners of human
medicine ? Will it be said, that these distinguished cha-
racters are, as physicians and surgeons, unacquainted with
the principles of veterinary science? This is no new
doctrine�it has not originated in our time : Vegetius,

INTRODUCTION. XV

fourteen hundred years ago, when he was collecting ma-
terials for his work, De Arte Veterinarid, wisely, not
only consulted the veterinary surgeons, but also the phy-
sicians of the day ; nam (inquit) mulomedicinse doetrina
ab arte medicinse non adeo in multis discrepat, sed in
multis plurimisque consentit.

The advantages resulting to the veterinary surgeon from
a knowledge of the different branches of human medicine,
can alone be duly appreciated by its possessor : without
it, he is but ill prepared to meet the medical literati of
the day ; with it, he stands as an effectual barrier to im-
proper interference on the one side, and to the dissemina-
tion of doctrines flimsy or absurd, on the other. The
young veterinarian we would admonish to be very cau-
tious how he admits empiricism into his counsel�how,
in other words, he practises that which his judgment
may condemn : pin your faith upon no man's sleeve, but
look for yourself as you proceed, is inscribed on the di-
rection-post which points out the road to professional ce-
lebrity. To the old practitioner we would fain hint, that
nothing is so effectual a barrier to advancement�nothing
so prejudicial to the art, as to continue in the use of re-
medies purely because they were the infallibles of those
who went before : let him be wary how he vainly piques
himself of his experience; for he who reposes himself
on practice, to the utter exclusion of theory, we do not
care what his experience may be, is but a dabbler in the

art, and one that tampers with the lives of animals unfor-
tunate enough to be placed under his care *.

In order to convey some idea of the present state of
veterinary science, it may not be amiss to take a hasty re-
trospective view of our art, from the institution of the Ve-
terinary College. This establishment may be said to have
had its origin in the Odiham Agricultural Society; who,
in the year 1785, first occupied themselves about the im-
provement of the veterinary art, then in a very neglected
condition: it is M. Sainbel, however, who came over
to England in the following year, with a view of pub-
licly teaching it, and who afterwards became professor,
whom we must regard as the founder of the College. We

* We recall to memory here an anecdote so pertinent to this
part of our subject, that we cannot forbear relating it. A farrier
who was subpoenaed on a horse-cause, was opposed, as evidence of
the contending party, by a young veterinary surgeon. The son of
Vulcan, who had from the beginning eyed his professional anta-
gonist with all the spleen and self-sufficiency so peculiar to his
sect on such occasions, as one of comparative ignorance, when put
in competition with him, the possessor of grey hairs and venerable
looks, during his examination by the counsel, to whom he was re-
plying in a most haughty and assuming tone, was asked by the
judge, "and pray, sir, how long have you been a farrier?" to
which our hero, astonished that his lordship had not heard of his
professional fame, nor of that of his progenitors, answered, " how
long a farrier, my lord ! I was horn a farrier, my father before me
was a. farrier, and so was my grandfather ! ! !"

may consider this, therefore, as the epocha of scientific
farriery in England; though, long before, there had been
much written on the subject, particularly by the French,
who, for a considerable time anterior to this, led the way
in vetennary pursuits; which only required selection and
arrangement, by a person of good discriminative talent,
and sound medical knowledge, to convert it into materials
fully sufficient for laying down the rudiments of veteri-
nary science. To the lot of Mr. Coleman, the suc-
cessor of M. Sain eel, and present professor to the
College, fell this gratifying task : what professional fame
this gentleman has acquired in its acquittance, or with
how much respect and esteem he is looked up to by the
members of the institution for the services he has ren-
dered it, need not be the theme of our pen. Seeing, then,
that there was much useful, though imperfectly digested
matter to be obtained from the perusal of works on far-
riery *; and that to this was to be added all that bad any
relation to the art in comparative anatomy, physiology,
chymistry, human surgery and medicine, which were at
that time, and have been ever since, making rapid strides

* From a long list of French authors we may adduce, Sojlley-
sel, Bourgelat, La Fosse, Vitet, and Sainbei, as excellent
sources of practical information : among numerous of our own
^wnters on farriery, &c. Blundeville, Markiiam, Newcastle,
onap_E) Gibson, Bracken, Bartlett, Osmer, Clarke, and
Stubbs are the principal contributors.

XV111 INTROnUCTION.

in advancement, we shall find that our art was suscepti-
ble of very considerable improvement, in a very short
space of time; and that we ought not to be at the pre-
sent day, remembering that this happened thirty years
ago, so young and inexperienced in the practice of it as
many seem inclined to believe. It is now quite time
that we were acquainted with the anatomy and physio-
logy of the horse, so far as our practice demands;
and it is to be hoped that we are making daily progress
in our pathological knowledge: though this last is a
branch of comparative slow growth, and one that is
peculiarly shy of bringing forth fruit. We shall, at ano-
ther time, prosecute an inquiry into the existing state of
veterinary science in this country ; consider the national
means provided for its improvement and diffusion, in the
establishment of the College; analyze the system of
education therein pursued, comparing it with those now
adopted at the principal continental veterinary schools, and
with that originally proposed by M. SA1NBEL ; ascertain
what progress has absolutely been made, notice the dis-
coveries, and endeavour to trace each to its respective and
proper source ; and offer such hints and suggestions for
the further benefit and advancement of our art, as strike
us not to be unworthy the attention�nay, serious consi-
deration of those more immediately concerned in the
welfare and promotion of this very useful branch of ge-
neral knowledge.

INTRODUCTION. XIX

It is far from our intention here to enumerate the "dis-
coveries" that have been made, even in our own time; suf-
fice be it for the present to observe, that, with the power-
ful aid of our cotemporaries in medicine, whose path is
our nearest way to perfection, we are rapidly effecting a
complete revolution in the veterinary art. We have had,
and we still have, great obstacles to contend with:�pre-
judice, envy, obstinacy, and ignorance; we hope, how-
ever, to find none of them insurmountable; on the con-
trary, in process of time, as we advance in knowledge
and importance, to tread them one and all under foot.
Let us act towards one another as become the respecta-
ble members of a liberal profession, engaged in one com-
mon cause, whose promotion is the interest and the be-
nefit of us all�let us go hand in hand, and unanimously
and resolutely oppose the incursions of that individual
who would sell our present rank and prospective prefer-
ment to fill a private purse ; while we unsparingly lavish
our praises and our honors upon him, who, in being a
real and unsophisticated friend to our art, contributes to
the welfare and advancement of every one of us.

Although we abstain from, indeed our limits will not
admit of our making mention of the progressive improve-
ment the art has undergone, even since the foundation of
the College, we shall take a hasty review of the principal
literary productions of the professors and members of the
institution.

Charles Vial de Sainbel, the founder of our
College, now no more, if we are to repose faith on what
he wrote, and on what he had but time to lay the foun-
dation stone of, had great and important designs indeed
in view, to the aggrandizement of veterinary science. His
career, however, was of so short duration, that he has only
left us�besides an excellent and unpractised plan for the
education of eleves veterinaires�a work, translated into
English, containing some very pithy Observations on the
Art of Veterinary Medicine; an Essay on the Propor-
tions of Eclipse; another, which obtained a prize giveu
by the Royal Society of Medicine, on the Grease and
Watry Sores on the Legs of Horses; a third, oh the Glan-
ders; and a few short Observations on the Cholic, or
Gripes. That Sainbel, had he lived, would have pro-
ceeded on sound principles, may be inferred from his
fourth observation on the veterinary art. " The object
of this art is therefore not only congenial with that of hu-
man medicine, but the very same paths which lead to a
knowledge of the diseases of man, lead equally to a know-
ledge of those of brutes. An accurate examination of the
interior parts of their bodies, a studious survey of the ar-
rangement, structure, form, connexion, use, and relation
of these parts, and of the laws by which they are intended
to act, as also of the nature and property of the various
foods, and other agents, which the earth so liberally pro-
vides for their support and cure ; these form in a great

measure the sound and sure foundation of all medical sci-
ence, whatever living individual animal is the subject of
our consideration."

First in the catalogue of works of more modern vete-
rinary writers, in volume and importance, presents itself
that of Professor Coleman ; wherein the Structure,
Economy, and Diseases of the Foot of the Horse, and the
Principles and Practice of Shoeing, are treated of with
great clearness and ingenuity : the descriptive part is well
illustrated by several highly finished paintings. Messrs.
Moorcroft, Bracy Claek, Goodwin, Budd,
and Powis, have also written on this subject. Mr.
Goodwin, whose is a good practical work on shoeing
horses, has given us a synoptical display of the vari-
ous methods adopted, in this branch of our art, by dif-
ferent nations; and introduced some modification in the
present practice of it; which, in our opinion, will be
sootier or later carried into effect; even by the adherents
to other systems; and may be so, we also think, without
any concession of their present tenets.

Professor Peall has published some Observations on
the Diseases of the Horse, and his Stable Management;
unrivalled by any book of the kind, either for the practi-
cal matter it contains, or the liberal and scientific style in
which it is written.

Mr. Bracy Clark has presented us with an inte-
resting Essay on the Pots of Horses and other Animals ;
wherein the transformations, and other curious incidents

XXli INTRODUCTION.

connected with the natural history of that little animal,
are with much science and research developed to us.
The same writer has published another Essay on the
Gripes of' Horses; and, more recently, a work entitled,
The Reformed Veterinary Pharmacopoeia.

Mr. Sewell, assistant professor to the college, we be-
lieve every member of the profession will attest, has long
and unremittingly exerted himself in the augmentation of
veterinary knowledge; and, we feel pleasure in adding,
with no ordinary success. Among other innovations in
practice, of small comparative import, we must not lose
sight of the operation, called neurotomy, the merit of
which is the exclusive right of Mr. Sewell. It is illi-
beral! it is false, to assert that it is not! But Mr. Se-
well has treated the groom's oracle* with deserved
contempt-------with silence.

The following members of the institution have also
become authors; some of general treatises, others of es-
says, dissertations, &c. the bare mention of whose names
we must be content with here, or we shall extend these
preliminary observations much beyond their prescribed
limits: viz. Messrs. Boaedman, Lawkence, Wil-
kinson, Shipp, Smith, Ryding, Feron, Burke,
and Denny.

* Treatise on Veterinary Medicine in four volumes, &c. &c. by
James White, late Veterinary Surgeon to the First or Royal
Dragoons. Vide Vol. III. p. 148 of the 13th edition.

Science, then, may at length be said to have dawned on
the veterinary art�society has, now, long regarded it as
one of adequate utility to merit its support and encou-
ragement�the Veterinary College has been established
thirty years, and has dispersed its members throughout
the united kingdom. Notwithstanding all this however,
had not others, under less favorable circumstances than
our own, have been well received upon the arena of pub-
lic decision, we should not yet have ventured to have
made our appearance at the same tribunal.

It has been said, and with much truth, that he who
would be of essential service to the profession as an au-
thor, should take up the investigation of one subject, and
confine himself to that alone : thus has medicine attained
its present pre-eminence in this country. It appears to
us however, that, before any science, or art, can make
great progress, it is requisite that every member of it be
furnished with a synopsis of the fundamental principles
of that science, or art ; and that, for the want of such im-
plements, many are deterred from lending their aid, who
would otherwise prove very useful laborers in the vine-
yard. To this end, it is not enough that these rules for
their guidance be propounded to them once, or twice, or
even thrice ; but it is absolutely necessary that there be
some authentic records of them kept, accessible to every
individual of the profession : so that the students may
^av»il themselves of them in the absence of their teachers ;

the members refer to them at pleasure; and the public
in general be informed of the pretensions of its practi-
tioners, by a display of that knowledge which they are,
or ought to be, in the possession of.

No man supposes that his watch can be repaired at
the anvil, though there be those who send their horses to
the blacksmith to be cured of their disorders : they know
that this blacksmith is unacquainted with the mechanism
of a watch, and yet they intrust a machine to him, to
which, in point of complication of structure, a rattle bears
more affinity to a watch, than a watch to it! Why then are
gentlemen so blind? Is it that a horse is of less value
than a watch ? No ! It is that the vile trash diffused in
treatises on farriery, is so truly disgusting to a man of com-
mon reflection, that he forms his opinions of the art by
those he entertains of the book, and considers it specially
adapted to the genius of his groom or coachman, or suit-
ably lodged within the skullcap of his blacksmith or
bell-hanger�below the dignity of a man of education,
and incompatible with the habits of a gentleman! " Mi-
serable animal I" says Sainbel, " bereft of speech, thou
can'st not complain, when to the disease witli which thou
art afflicted, excruciating torments are superadded, by
the ignorant efforts of such men, who, at first sight, and
without any investigation to lead them to the source of
thy disorder, pronounce a hackneyed, common-placed
opinion on thy case, and then proceed with all expedition

to open thy veins, lacerate thy flesh, cauterize thy sinews,
and drench ihy stomach with drugs, adverse in general to
the cure they engage to perform*."

To those who may regard the veterinary profession in
other light than as one, not only deservedly established
upon the basis of respectability, but, from its objects,
necessarily requiring ability and a knowledge of medicine
to practise with advantage, we would put the following
questions of Vegetius; (a writer we have already
quoted;) and then ask them, if these arguments, surely
excellent, if not elegant of their kind, were tenable at that
day, with how much more force and truth can we apply
them at the present ?

Quis aut nosse curas jumentorum erubescendum pu-
fet, cum optima jumenta habere gloriosum sit 1 Quis
vituperationi det id posse curare, quod laudi ducitur pos-
sidere ? Forsan ipsa opera mulomedicorum videtur ab-
jectior, notitia aut ciirationis non solum honestissimis, sed
etiam disertissimis convenit: ut provisione et ordinatione
sollerti curatis animalibus et damnis careant, et volupta-
tibus perfruantur.

Highly respectable as every member of the law and di-
vinity professionally is, and great as the honors are con-
ferred on some of the most eminent, yet do we find in-

Vide Saijibel's General Observations on the Art of Veterinary
Medicine.-

stances, too numerous indeed, of chicanery and apostacy
in both these professions : shall we then brand the vete-
rinary art with stigma because one who professes it
swerves from that course which circumspection might,
and honesty ought to dictate ? The man who barters
his reputation for dirty pounds, shillings, and pence�be
he who he may�whether he preside over or be a member
of it, forfeits the confidence and good-will of a profes-
sion he living dishonors, and dead leaves a name, a blot
jn its history.

That individual has ever appeared to us as the most
skilful and best practically informed veterinary surgeon,
caeteris paribus, who is most familiarly acquainted with
the natural habits of the horse, as well as those various
states in which he is placed by art;�either in the stable,
upon the turf, in the field, or upon the road:

" A skilful horseman, and a huntsman bred;"

and for the same reason, that he is regarded as the most
able physician, who has well informed himself of the ha-
bits of life and constitution of his patient. In the selection
of a hackney, for example, we should estimate that man's
judgment at little, who was not only a good horseman him-
self, but who had not ridden a variety of horses of that
denomination ; nor should we consult him in the choice
of a racer, who was not perfectly conversant in the trials
and performances of horses of various breeds, and differ-

INTRODUCTION. SXV11

ent shapes; neither would we give him credit for any
but fanciful knowledge of equitation, who could not set a
sauteur in a school, or cross the country upon a well-
trained hunter.

Let it not be understood, however, that we coincide
with that system of education which would train up the
61eve vet�rinaire in a stable, or a blacksmith's shop, ra-
ther than initiate him in the different branches of litera-
ture: surely, the study of medicine in the horse involves
nothing so ecurien in its nature as to render it necessary
to be stalled for its attainment! The student of medi-
cine receives clinical instructions, and is an attentive ob-
server of the progress of disease ; but it is neither requi-
site, nor advisable, that he should spend that time in the
wards of an hospital, which he now, with such in-
calculably greater ultimate advantages, devotes to classi-
cal and other learning! Without a due share of practical
knowledge, it is true, our medical acquirements are ever
leading us into error; and this is the only excuse we can
make for them who are eternally bewildering themselves in
framing plans in the cabinet for the farrier to look through
when they enter the forge. In fine, it appears that a
happy combination of medical science with equestrian
skill in the same individual, will eminently qualify him as
^a veterinary surgeon. Were the art intrusted to the first,
U would, at no remote period, dissipate itself in specula-
tion and refinement; and were it in the hands of the last,

XXV111 INTRODUCTION.

it would rapidly sink again into that abyss of ignorance
and blind humiliation, from which�and woe be to him
who from sinister and selfish motives would again darken
and enslave it�it is rising fast into the horizon of science.
But to conclude these preliminary observations�

With all that was known prior to the institution of the
College�with that vast accession of convertible science
for which we are indebted to human medicine�and with
what has since been added by later writers, we purpose
to compile a regular course of lectures on the veterinary
art; parts of which we shall submit from time to time,
until the whole be completed, to the perusal of those de-
sirous to acquire an elementary knowledge of it. For
students we principally design them: should they, how-
ever, be deemed worthy of the attention of others, we
shall feel amply repaid for our time and application.

The anatomical part of the work is taken from our own
dissections�without adherence to the details of others.

The veterinary practitioner does not require so accu-
rate an anatomy as the surgeon: he has seldom to cut
down on an artery; never to amputate a limb. There
are some parts of the animal, indeed, of which a know-
ledge would lead to little or no practical utility what-
ever: such are many muscles of the back, loins, neck,
and head�the minute structure of the brain and nervous
system� the precise course of blood-vessels removed from
external injury; and some others.

Our physiology we adapt to the popular doctrines of
the day.

To compose our pathology, we avail ourselves of the
labors of those few who have written from their own ob-
servations ; and we have copious notes of our own to re-
fer to, as well as a large assemblage of records, collected
by ourselves and others in the course of a very extensive
practice of nearly thirty years duration, in the service of
the Honorable Board of Ordnance.

Such are the materials we have the use of iri the con-
struction of our work, and such are our pretensions to
public notice : our aim is to lay down principles funda-
mental to the attainment of a knowledge of the veterinary
art. __________

Before we enter on the immediate consideration of
these lectures, it will be proper to sketch an outline of
their contents ; and explain what we mean by the ana-
tomy, physiology, and pathology of the horse.

In order to obtain a thorough knowledge of any science,
it is expedient to commence with the most simple, and
proceed progressively to the most complicated parts.
This is the course pursued by our most eminent teachers
of the anatomy and physiology of the human body; and
it is that which we have observed in the compilation of
these lectures.

Were the term anatomy strictly confined to its deriva-

XXX INTRODUCTION.

tion, it would simply imply the dissection of parts; but,
according to its present acceptation, we mean by it�a
knowledge of the structure of the component parts of an
animal, and of separating and distinguishing those parts
from one another. Anatomy may be divided into human,
and veterinary .-�the former being that which restricts its
inquiries to the human species ; the latter, that which ex-
tends them to all our domestic animals, from the horse,
its special object, downwards. From a comparison of
the two, we derive comparative anatomy.

-By physiology, we mean a knowledge of the actions or
functions�the economy or use of parts.

As parts, by performing different actions from those
which are natural to them, are altered in regard to their
original structure, so we have a third division, termed
pathology.

In order to elucidate these objects of inquiry, let us
take some part of the body, and thus methodically exa-
mine it: say, for example, the hoof. We describe it to
be of certain relative dimensions, and definite shape; to
be divided into crust, sole, frog, and bars; to be composed
of horny fibres, either regular or irregular in their course;
and to be firmly attached to the parts within : all this is
comprised in its anatomy. Its physiology, is that of con-
taining and protecting the soft, or sensitive parts ; of sus-
taining the animal's weight, and preventing slipping; and
of expanding in due ratio to the force with which the

foot is put down, and thus counteracting the effects of
concussion. By knowing its healthy appearances, we
become acquainted with its morbid, or pathological con-
ditions : we find it contracted, preternaturally upright,
small, convex, flat, or concave.

The constituent parts of the body may be disposed in
three classes. The first will comprehend the organs of
locomotion:�the bones and muscles. The second, those
subservient to nutrition and sensation:�the viscera, blood-
vessels, and absorbents�and the brain and nerves. The
third, those destined for the reproduction of the species :
�the parts of generation in both sexes.

Anatomy, then, may be considered to be a knowledge
of the materials, and of the manner in which these mate-
rials are connected in the construction of the animal ma-
chine. Its framework, that upon which all the other
parts are distributed, to which they are attached, and by
which they are sustained, is constituted of hard, inflexible
parts, called bones: if an animal fracture one of the prin-
cipal bones of the leg, its pillar of support being lost, the
limb can no longer uphold the body. Bones, however,
not only afford stability, attachment, and support to the
other�the soft parts, but serve to contain the more im-
portant of them, and defend them from external injury :
such as the brain, the thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic
viscera.

By contrasting the skeleton with the living animal, we

mark the proportion which the bony fabric bears to the
bulk of the whole body : we perceive that the bones, di-
vested of flesh, form but an outline of the original animal.
Now the flesh is divisible into a very considerable number
of distinct portions, which anatomists call muscles; and
these parls it is that we are to regard as the essential
agents "of motion : the bones are the passive, these are the
active locomotive organs. To the muscles, the limbs
chiefly owe their bulk and form ; of them a considerable
part of the trunk is composed ; and by them all the mo-
tions of both are executed. They uphold the body while
standing, move it from one place to another, and render it
fixed at pleasure; they direct the eyes to the objects of
vision, erect or depress the ears as befits the vibration of
sound, and give motion to the jaws for the comminution
of food : they are also the agents of respiration, and are
concerned in a variety of ways with other important func-
tions, a detail of which would be ill-timed in this hasty
review of them.

Were the limbs composed of but two, or three bones,
they would be but ill adapted to perform that variety and
extent of motion which they now do, in transporting the
animal from place to place ; on the contrary, we find
them, most wisely, to consist of several, differing in size
and shape, so arranged and accommodated as to act with
facility, and surprising rapidity: to give strength, and ad-
mit of speed, no less than one and twenty are found in

INTRODUCTION. XXX1U

the fore extremity. The ends of bones, shaped so as to
fit into each other, are covered by cartilage, better known
by the name of gristle; and are fastened together by
dense, fibrous cords, denominated ligaments; whose in-
ternal surface is lined by a membranous bag, containing
what is called joint-oil�in technical language, synovia.
Thus is constituted a. joint: in the motion of which, the
nice adaptation of the bones, and due tensity of their li-
gaments, prevent dislocation ; the cartilages, like cushions
of support, guard against concussion ; while the synovia
is a true joint-oil for the lubrication of the whole.

Next we come to take a view of those organs concern-
ed in the maintenance of life. In order to furnish nutri-
ment to the system, the animal, irresistibly compelled by
the sense of hunger, takes in from time to time a certain
proportion of food ; which, after it has undergone tritu-
ration by the teeth, and has been moistened by saliva, is
conveyed by the esophagus, or gullet, into the stomach.
Here the several matters of which it consists are reduced
to a soft, uniform mass, called chyme; and this is further
converted within the intestines, into which the stomach
impels it, by the admixture of different juices; the two
most remarkable of which are furnished by the liver and
pancreas�the bile, and pancreatic fiuid. .At this time,
^a milky and highly nutritive essence separates itself, and
^Is absorbed by numberless capillary tubes, called lacteals,
^a,|d conveyed by them into the system; while the resi-

duary matters, feculent in their nature, continue their
route through the guts to be expelled at the anus.

The blood, the nutritive fluid to the animal as the sap
is to the vegetable, is conducted to every part of the
body by a system of vessels, named arteries ; whence it is
re-conveyed to the heart by others, similar in composi-
tion and distribution, called veins; and this perpetual
motion of it, is what we denote by the term circulation.
Having, however, once performed this circuit, wherein
it has served the purposes of nourishment, growth, and
reproduction, and supplied the various secretions�such
as bile, semen, urine, and saliva, it is unfit for the like uses
again, until it has been exposed to the influence of the
air. This is effected in the lungs, and is the ultimate de-
sign of respiration.

Thus constituted�with the instruments of motion, and
the means of preserving and repairing itself�still does
the machine require an active principle�a primum mo-
bile�a spring that gives impulse to the whole, ere it
can possess the power of self-operation. This alone re-
sides in the brain and nervous system�the organ of sen-
sation and motion; whose presence essentially distin-
guishes the animal from the vegetable. By the faculty
of motion, animals are enabled to perform certain actions;
by that of sensation, they obtain a knowledge of what is
passing around them. The only sense that pervades al-
most all classes of animals, is that of feeling : the others,

INTRODUCTION. XXXV

which appear to be only modifications of it, in a more
exalted and susceptible condition, are by no means con-
nected with their vitality. The eye is so constructed that
it can feel the rays of light; and the ear so formed as to
take cognizance of the vibrations of sound; buton nei-
ther of these senses has life any dependance; for a blind
horse is as much alive as one whose vision is perfect; and
there are some animals in which sight and hearing are en-
tirely wanting. Indeed, scarcely any parts of animals
present greater varieties than the organs of sense : in the
human subject, the power of feeling is inherent in an emi-
nent degree in the tips of the fingers; in the horse, we
find no proper organ of feeling�it is probably compen-
sated for by the super-excellence of that of smell; and so
exquisitely fine is this sense in the dog, that even the
tracts of the light-footed deer are followed by him with
a certitude truly surprising.

The term of life of every animal being fixed, at a more
or less distant period according to its kind, it was neces-
sary that it should be provided with means for the propa-
gation of the species. Among the higher classes, gene-
ration is the effect of the concurrence of the sexes; each
of which possesses an assemblage of organs, mutually
adapted to this end: but in the lower orders, the sexes
are now and then combined in the same individual; or
generation is performed without any copulative act at all.
In the male, the testicles separate a peculiar fluid from

XXXvi INTRODUCTION.

the blood, known by the name of semen; and the chief
use of the penis is to conduct this fluid into the uterus
or womb of the female; in order to excite in the ovum,
therein contained, a disposition to growth and develope-
ment. In one of two small glandular bodies, placed within
the belly of the female, named the ovaries, is formed the
ovum; whence, through a tube denominated the oviduct,
it is transported into the womb : here the little embryo,
exposed to the influence of the seminal fluid, gradually
developes itself, acquiring the precise form and attributes
of its parent; until the period of its consummation has
arrived, when it is launched into the world to provide for
itself.

VETERINARY LECTURES.

xVCCORDING to the course which we observe in
the compilation of these lectures, the blood presents it-
self as the first subject of our consideration; and with
real advantages to the student is it made so by our
teachers of human anatomy, whose arguments in favor
of this method are so instructive, that we cannot pass
them over here entirely unnoticed.

The body is said to be composed of two orders of
parts�solids and fluids. Of the latter the blood consti-
tutes the chief bulk; indeed it may be regarded as the
matrix, if we may be allowed the term, out of which all
the others, as well as the solids themselves, are formed
and re-produced. But the fluids of the body differ from
the solids, inasmuch as they afford, from the uniformity
°f their properties, a composition of a more simple and
intelligible kind�than is presented to us, by, perhaps, the
least complicated of the latter ; a fact that might of itself

induce us to treat of them in the beginning of the course.
Another and obvious advantage, however, resulting from
such an arrangement, is this: that in investigating the
properties of the fluids, it is seldom or ever necessary to
advert to the solids; whereas, if we were to reverse this
order, we should find ourselves often much perplexed to
render our descriptions intelligible, for want of an ade-
quate knowledge of the former, and more particularly of
the blood ; so that, in fact, we may look upon a thorough
acquaintance with the properties and uses of the blood,
as, in a great measure, the ground-work of our future ana-
tomical, as well as physiological acquirements. More-
over, regarding the blood, in an anatomical point of view,
as constituting a part of the body, it must indubitably be
considered as by far' the most essential: at the same
time, it has been so much submitted to observation and
experiment, that we may safely say, none has received
more splendid elucidations from the most celebrated
writers on human medicine; and add, that few still pre-
sent a wider field for future research. When we con-
template the names of a Harvey, a Hallee, and a
Hunter, and reflect on the time and labor these eminent
physiologists bestowed on their investigations, relative to
the nature, the uses, and the motion of this fluid, we shall
be still further convinced of the importance of our pre-
sent subject, and regard it as one having additional claims
to our primary and profound consideration.

Blood may be defined to be, a fluid circulating within
the heart, arteries, and veins of a living animal. From
the uniformity of its appearance, it has received the
name of an homogeneous fluid; and such indeed it appears
to be, while circulating within its vessels in the living
body: the lapse of a few minutes, however, after its

detraction, presents to us a mass composed of dissimilar
parts, or one of an heterogeneous nature.

The color of the blood is red in all warm-blooded
animals ; though it is said to vary in its shades of redness
in different classes of them*. Of its doing so in dif-
ferent parts of the same animal, we have full and fa-
miliar demonstration : in the common domestic fowl, for
example, some parts�'as the wings and breast, are white ;
others�as the legs, of a faint and dusky red hue ; while
the heart, liver, &c. present all the common appearances
that the same organs do in quadrupeds. On the other
hand, many animals, called cold-blooded, possess blood
entirely colorless: e. g. in the insect tribe, it is thin,
limpid, and transparent. Again, there are others in
which a red blood circulates in those parts more imme-
diately connected with life: such are fish, whose vital
organs are red, though their muscles are perfectly white.
Without further digression, however, to prove that color
is not an essential property of blood, we may advert to
some parts of the horse, which are wholly supplied with
this fluid in a colorless form: the transparent parts of the
eye are a familiar example of this, in which the vessels
are too minute to admit of the entrance of the coloring
particles. On the contrary, blood in some parts of the
body is so intensely red, that its color approaches more
to that of the Modena red, or purple�as is the case with
that contained in the pulmonary arteries, and venous sys-
tem in general; while in others, its hue is of the bright-
est scarlet�of which the pulmonary veins and larger ar-

* The blood of the horse is not so red, under ordinary circum-
stances, as that of the human subject; nor is that of the latter so
high colored as that of the clog, so far as we have compared
them.

«
4 On the Blood.

teries afford the best examples. To the dark-colored
portion, the name of venous blood has been applied; to
the bright red, that of arterial: it will be seen, however,
from what has been before stated, that these epithets are
not in strict conformity to the laws of the animal economy.
The shade of red, then, not only varies in the blood of dif-
ferent species of animals, but in that of the same animal,
from the darkest Modena, or purple hue, to a perfectly
limpid brightness. With the exception of that flowing
within the pulmonary vessels, the blood changes its co-
lor, from the bright scarlet, or arterial hue, to the dark
red, or venous, in passing from arteries to veins�a
change, the intensity of which depends on the rapidity
with which it circulates from one set of vessels to the
other; so that, as might be expected, stagnation in any
part will have a similar effect on it. Rest, therefore, or
what is, in a measure, equivalent to it, tardiness of mo-
tion, will be attended with an alteration in the appear-
ance of this fluid. If, for example, you tie a cord around
your arm, that part more remote from the heart, will be-
come turgid, from distention of its vessels with blood;
which (blood) will rapidly undergo a change, from a more
or less bright red, first to a Modena, and ultimately to a
dark purple, or black hue�changes solely referable to its
detention by the ligature. Under extraordinary rapidity
of circulation, the result, though not altogether the con-
verse of the former, is still very different, inasmuch as the
arterial character is preserved by the blood in its course
through the veins ; and this appearance will be in pretty
exact ratio to that of its augmented celerity. The com-
mon operation of venesection affords a good illustration
of this : when you first open the jugular vein, the blood
which spirts out, is of a dark venous hue, but in a. short

time, the stream assumes a reddish tint, and often, parti-
cularly when the orifice in the vein is large, becomes
quite of the arterial character; a change simply owing
to its quicker circulation from artery to vein, and its
consequent accelerated flow in that vessel from which
you are drawing it. Having before stated, that the con-
verse of what generally takes place, happens in the pul-
monary vessels, with regard to the color of the blood, it
�will here be necessary briefly to explain this phenome-
non : let us, however, remark by the way, that in no part
of the body is the contrast greater between the two kinds
of blood, than in these tubes. In the pulmonary arteries,
its color is so dark, that it has not unfrequently been
called by authors, black blood, though it is, in truth, only
of the most intense Modena red ; while, on the contrary,
in the pulmonary veins, nothing can exceed its beautifully
bright red, or scarlet tint. Now, as the pulmonary arte-
ries convey the blood to the lungs, and the pulmonary
veins return it from them, it is evident tiiat this remark-
able and sudden change must have been effected in those
organs: physiology has demonstrated that it is so, and
that it is to be ascribed to the air which they contain, and,
farther, that it is a process essential to the support of the
animal's life. Venous blood is unfit for the various pur-
poses to which arterial is applied; it is, consequently,
sent through the lungs in order to acquire renovated
properties ; and these are made manifest to the eye of the
anatomist, in the alteration of color.

In the more perfect, or, as they have been denominated
in contradistinction to the others, the warm-blooded ani-
mals, the blood is every where found, while circulating in
the living body, to be of a certain degree of heat; and this
Jt steadily preserves in its circulation through the inward

parts of the body, uninfluenced by the surrounding tem-
perature*. In all unexposed parts, the heat will ex-
ceed 100° of Farenheit's thermometer; it has been
found however, by experiment, that this degree is
not equally maintained in the more superficial situations
of the body : what these variations are, we have but little
to do with ; though they may be ascertained by the aid of
the thermometer, at any time, with precision. But in the
lower orders of animals, or such as are called cold-blood-
ed, the heat of the blood corresponds with that of the
medium in which they live. We are not, however, to
suppose that the temperature of this fluid is never sub-
ject to variation, even in perfect animals, for it is found to
be much influenced in them by disease : e.g. in the hu-
man subject, in whom the heat of the body is, in health,
9S", it has been known to rise to 110° during fever;
and in all superficial parts, increased heat is one of the
essential symptoms of inflammation.

The weight of a given quantity of blood when com-
pared with a like volume of water, is nearly one-eleventh
more�i. e. water being equal to 1000, blood is about
1090; but its specific gravity will be subject to varia-
tion, according to the state of health of the animal
from which it is taken: it will be greatest in such as are
the strongest, and enjoy the most perfect health.

* The heat of the horse's blood, while flowing into a basin, is
100°. If the bulb of the thermometer be introduced into the
wound, the quicksilver will rise to about 101°. The temperature
of the more superficial parts of the body will, in course, vary with
that of the surrounding atmosphere. Mr. Hunter found, that the
thermometer introduced into a wound two inches deep, made into
the gluteal muscles of an ass, indicated 100°; and that the heat
of the vagina was the same. The interior of the chest of the dog,
he ascertained to be 101°.

For many reasons, it is impossible to form a correct
estimate of the quantity of blood contained in an animal;
though, at first view, it appears no difficult task to arrive
at such a knowledge. We have no means, however, of
extracting the whole of this fluid from the body, or of
correctly ascertaining what remains in it after death ; and
though the following experiment may answer every prac-
tical and useful end, still it is by no means conclusive as
a nice computation: it is one that has been frequently
made on the dog, in this instance we repeated it on an
ass about six months' old.

The weight of the animal being ascertained to be 79 lbs.
a puncture was made with a lancet into the jugular vein,
from which the blood, which flowed in a very free stream,
was collected. The vein having ceased to bleed, the ca-
rotid artery of the same side was divided, but no blood
came from itt in a few seconds afterwards the animal
was dead. The weight of the carcase was now found to
be 73 J lbs. consequently it had sustained a loss of 5Jlbs.
precisely the measure of the blood drawn. It appears
from this experiment, that an animal will lose about l-15th
part of its weight of blood before it dies ; though a less
quantity may so far debilitate the vital powers, as to be,
though less suddenly, equally fatal. In the human sub-
ject, the quantity of blood has been computed at about
l-8th part of the weight of the body ; and as such an
opinion has been broached from the results of experiments
on quadrupeds, we may fairly take that to be about the
proportion of it in the horse : so that, if we estimate the
weight of a common sized horse at about 12 cwt. the
whole quantity of blood will amount to 84 qrts. or 10S lbs,
^of which about 45 qrts. or 90 lbs. will commonly flow
from the jugular vein prior to death ; though the loss of

a much less quantity will deprive the animal of life*.
It is well known, that young animals possess more
blood than old, and that they will, perhaps on this ac-
count, sustain greater bodily injuries, and bear larger
hemorrhages; indeed they are wisely provided with such
an excess, if we may so term it, in order that their
growth may be promoted, and their several organs main-
tained in a state of vigour: but in old, in which the body
is gradually decaying, and the powers of life declining,
the quantity of this fluid becomes reduced. Mr. Wilson,
in bis Lectures on the Blood, Sec. says, that " Fat animals
are found to possess less blood than leaner animals, and
tame animals which are confined, less blood than wild
ones."

Some have formed speculations on the quantity con-
tained in the human body, from the losses occasionally
sustained ; vague, however, must ever be such conjec-
tures ; for it is found that blood to an enormous amount
may be lost, in cases where hemorrhage, not copious
or too long continued, returns at frequent intervals :
thus in uterine and nasal hemorrhages in the human sub-
ject, astonishing accounts have been published of the

* Supposing a man to weigh 12 St. or 168 lbs. the quantity of
blood contained in his body may be rated at 21 lbs. or 2 galls. 2qrts.
and 1 pint. Again, granting that a dog weighs 40 lbs. the amount
of his blood will be five pints. These calculations are useful, and
worth our retention, inasmuch as they serve to guide us in prac-
tice, as to the probable extent to which we may, with safety, carry
venesection in different animals. For instance, we may reckon the
loss of a pint from a man to be equivalent to that of a gallon from
a horse, or to four ounces from a dog, and vice versa; selecting in-
dividuals from each class about the respective weights we have here
■<et down.

total admeasurement of the collected daily discharges.
But in all these cases, we are to remark, that it is the
gradual or occasional loss of it, and, consequently, the
time given for its reproduction, (for new blood is made
even while the old is escaping,) that enables these pa-
tients to bear up against the debility ever attendant on
such affections*. Animals, in fact, support losses of
blood well or ill, according as the part, from which it
comes, bleeds more or less freely, or as the hemorrhage
endures for a longer or shorter space of time: on this
principle it is, that a large orifice is in general to be
preferred, in the detraction of blood for inflammatory
disease, to a small one. There are some parts of an ani-
mal that contain more blood than others : e.g. muscle
possesses more than either bone or tendon, and is, conse-
quently, redder; as color in the living body is, for the
most part, dependant on blood. Parts much exert-
ed are found to have more blood sent to them than
others, which, though of similar structure, are less used :

* " I have seen several quarts thrown up from the stomach in a few
hours, even by a very thin puny person : and, on the other hand,
if we had not this proof, we should suppose that there could be but
very little, when a few ounces will make a person faint. I have
an idea however that people can bear to lose more by the stomach
than by any. other way. Besides it becomes a matter of surprise
how little is commonly Tound in the dead body: but I believe in
disease it in some degree diminishes with the body, for more is to
be found in those who die suddenly, or of acute diseases; and even
in some who die of lingering diseases, as a dropsy, we have a con-
siderable quantity of blood. The only way of accounting for this,
^Is, that in a common lingering illness there is less blood, and in
^a dropsy it coagulates less; for the strong coagulation squeezes out
the serum which I imagine transudcs_after death, and is not ob-
servable." Hunter on the Blood. 4

hence, the muscles of the legs of a fowl are red, but
those of the wing and breast nearly white.

Blood, while circulating in its vessels, is always fluid;
were it not perfectly so, the transmission of it through
numerous capillary tubes to different parts of the body,
could not be effected.

That blood is constantly kept in motion during life with-
in its vessels, is an opinion that has been handed down to
us by the earliest physiologists ; but it was not until the
timeof Harvey, that, what is now called, the circulation
of the blood was discovered. Harvey demonstrated, that
this fluid, which previously to his time was believed only
to ebb and flow, was conveyed by one set of tubes to
every part of the body, called arteries ; and by another,
termed veins, returned to the heart, or source whence
it came ; that, thence, it performed a second revolu-
tion through the lungs, in order to be rendered fit
for the various and important uses, it serves in its trans-
mission over the body. So that, in truth, there may be
said to be two circulations, the greater and the lesser :
the former, meaning its course over the body in general ;
the latter, that through the lungs. Two of the best,
and at once demonstrative proofs of the circulation,
are the simple experiments of putting ligatures around an
artery and a vein : in the one case, that portion of the
vessel will be full of blood which is next to the heart,
while the opposite part will remain empty; in the other,
the reverse of this will happen ; clearly demonstrating,
that the blood is perpetually flowing in both sets of ves-
sels, and, at the same time, shewing, that its current in
each is in opposite directions.

The blood, though fluid while circulating, possesses
a power of becoming solid�of converting itself into

a glutinous mass, called a coagulum; by which property,
it is variously converted into materials for the growth,
support, and repair, of every part of the body.�
Bones, muscles, &c. are formed from it; the different
organs of the body are kept in a continual state of tone by
it; divided surfaces and fractured bones are glued to-
gether and repaired by it; and lastly, all the secretions
of the body, as urine, bile, saliva, &c. are furnished by
it: moreover, by this power of coagulation, when extra-
vasated from its vessels, are many dangerous bleedings ar-
rested, which might otherwise prove destructive to life.

To the indefatigable exertions of Mr. John Hdnter,
in the promotion of medical science, «re we indebted for
those opinions which attribute to this fluid, while circu-
lating in the living body, a vital principle. In his disser-
tation on this subject, Mr. Hunter prepares the mind for
the reception of so novel, and, at first view, so inconceiv-
able a doctrine, by the following preliminary notice :
" To conceive that blood is endowed with life, while cir-
culating, is perhaps carrying the imagination as far as
it can go ; but the difficulty arises merely from its being
a fluid, the mind not being accustomed to the idea of a
living fluid." And, at another place : " Our ideas of life
have been so much connected with organic bodies, and
principally those endowed with visible action, that it re-
quires a new bend to the mind, to make it conceive that
these circumstances are not inseparable. It is within
these fifty years only, that the callus of bones has been
allowed to be alive ; but I shall endeavour to show, that
organization and life do not depend in the least on each
other ; that organization may arise out of living parts and
produce action, but that life can never rise out of, or de-
pend on, organization." Mr. Hunteu then proceeds to

show, that the principle of life may and does exist in ani-
mal substances devoid of apparent organization and mo-
tion, in proof of which he instances the egg, as a fami-
liar and striking illustration; which, he says, so long as
it retains this principle, resists the influence of external
agents�such as heat and cold, much longer than dead
animal mat er. To support this fact, he made the follow-
ing experiment: he put a new laid egg into 0 of Faren-
heit's thermometer, and froze it�with a view of destroy_ring its preserving powers, and then allowed it to thaw.
Next he put this egg, and another newly laid, into a cold
mixture: the former was frozen seven minutes and a half
before the latter. From this, and from other similar ex-
periments, the author comes to this conclusion: "Thata
fresh egg has the power of resisting heat, cold, and pu-
trefaction, in a degree equal to many of the more imperr
feet animals, which exhibit nearly the same phenomena
under the same experiments; and it is more than proba-
ble that this power arises from the same principle in
both,"

In the next place, Mr. Hunter demonstrates, by
some ingenious experiments, not widely different from
those just mentioned, an analogy between the coagula-
tion of the blood and the contraction of muscle detached
from the body.

He reconciles the repugnant idea of life in a fluid al-
ways in motion, and often separated into many portions,
by sajing, that all its parts are similar, and in perfect
harmony with each other. ** Because blood is alive," con-
tinues he, " it has the power of preserving its fluidity;
were it not so, it would be, in respect to the body, as an
extraneous substance. Blood is not only alive in itself,
but is the support of life in every part of the body ; for

mortification immediately follows, when the circulation
is cut off from any part."

" Moreover," he says, " blood itself must be kept
alive ; because, while it is supporting the life of the so-
lids, it is either losing its own, or is rendered incapa-
ble of supporting that of the body. To accomplish all
this, it must have motion, and that in a circle, as it is a
continuance of the same blood which circulates, in which
circle it is in one view supersaturated, as it were, with
living powers, and in another is deficient, having parted
with them while it visited the different parts of the body."

Mr. Hunter also shows a striking coincidence be-
tween the coagulation of the blood and the contraction of
the muscles, a phenomenon we know to depend on life,
and one that he considers as the strongest proof of the
existence of the vital principle.

Animals killed by lightning, or by electricity, have
not their blood coagulated, nor their muscles contracted.
Those that are hunted to death, exhibit the same appear-
ances. In persons who die suddenly�as from blows on
the stomach, or sudden gusts of passion, this strict ob-
server remarked the same coincidence. " The natural
deduction from all these facts and observations," says
he, " I think is perfectly easy; it is impossible to
miss it."

Presuming from these data, that the blood, in common
with the solid parts, is possessed of what he calls the
materia vita diffusa, Mr. Hunter now enters into an in-
quiry of some length and ambiguity, through which we
have neither time nor inclination to follow him, relative
^to the nature and disposal of this materia vita; in the
course of which he says, adverting to where the living
principle of the blood first begins, " I am rather inclined

to think that the chyle itself is alive ; for we find it co-
agulates when extravasated; it has the same powers of
separation with the blood; and it acquires its power of
action in the lungs, as the venai blood does."

This is a short but imperfect sketch of Mr. Hunter's
opinions concerning the life of the blood : to say the least
of them, they are extremely ingenious, and are the pro-
ducts of much cautious and laborious investigation,
and, we must admit, as the offspring of so great a mind,
well deserve our serious consideration.

Having treated of this fluid, in our last lecture, as
circulating in the body; we shall, in this, examine its
properties when taken out.

When blood is first received into a vessel, a halitus,
or vapor, emitted from its surface, is observable : a mir-
ror held over the basin becomes obscured by it, and
a peculiar odor accompanies its fumes, which is said to
be more unpleasant in carnivorous than in graminivorous
animals.

We observed, in the last lecture, that blood, although
apparently, was not in reality, an homogeneous fluid ; for
when drawn and allowed to remain at rest, it separates
into two parts : a red solid portion, called crassamentum ;
and a yellowish fluid part, called serum.

This spontaneous separation of its component parts,
is called its coagulation : it takes place, in the blood of
the horse, in the space of about twenty-five minutes; in
that of the human subject, in seven or eight.

These two parts differ in their relative quantities in
different animals, and in the same animal at different
times, depending on the state of the general health of the

subject from which the blood is taken : in some dis-
eases, and in weak subjects, the proportion of serum is
considerably augmented. Richerand, in his Elements
of Phi/siologij, says, that " in the human subject, the
serum constitutes about one-half, or three-fourths of the
fluid; the coloring matter and fibrina are in inverse ratio
of the serum; and it is observed, that the more brilliant
and red the color of the blood, the greater the proportion
of the fibrous parts." In the healthy horse, the serum
may be computed at about one-half of the whole quantity
of the blood taken away.

Serum is a fluid of a deep yellow, or straw color, hav-
ing the appearance of being about the consistence of wa-
ter; it is heavier, however, than that fluid, though the
thinnest part of the blood, in consequence of its possess-
ing soryie degree of tenacity.

Though the serum be naturally of a deep yellow, its
color is subject to some variation in disease. In the hu-
man subject, this has been frequently taken notice of in
jaundiced persons, in whom it acquires a brown tinge
from the admixture of bile; and in the horse, in which
jaundice is comparatively an uncommon disease, we have
remarked the same appearance.

It has been asserted, that the proportion of serum, in
a given quantity of blood, constitutes one of the most
material differences between the composition of this fluid
in the horse and of that in the human subject: in the one,
soon after it has been drawn, we discover the coagulum
swimming in serum ; while the other consists of one uni-
form congealed mass, whose surface is scarcely moistened
by serous exudation. In order to form a correct esti-

mate, however, of the proportion of serum in a given
quantity of blood, it will be necessary to keep the mass
for several days, and this we can commonly do without
its becoming putrid; whereas the blood of the human
subject will putrefy in the course of two days after it has
been drawn, even at the temperature of 50": a want of
such precaution has created much erroneous statement on
this subject.

If we draw a pint of blood from a horse in apparent
health, serum in the following quantities, at the intervals
stated, will be separated. During the first five or six
hours, very sparing exudation takes place; but soon after-
wards, the coagulum becomes surrouuded by it; so that
next day, twenty-four hours from its detraction, we may
commonly pour off from five to six ounces. After this,
its proportion daily becomes less: from one to two
ounces are found in the vessel on the second day, from
half an ounce to an ounce on the third, from three to five
drachms on the fourth, about one drachm on the fifth,
and a like quantity on the sixth; and on the seventh day
generally, at the temperature of 50°, the mass is putrid.
Now, if we sum up the media of these several quantities,
we shall find that the serum amounts to rather more
than half of the whole quantity of blood drawn; we may
fairly take, however, half* as the average.

It appears therefore, that the most essential differences
between our blood and that of the horse, are�first, that
the latter possesses greater preservative powers against
putrescency than the former, when extracted from the
body ; and secondly, that the spontaneous separation of

* " Le serum est un liquide aqueux, transparent, roussMre, et d'une
saveur salee, et dont la proportion la plus ordinaire est d'un tiers d
la mmtii." Trait'c d'Anatomie Veterinaire, par Gikaiid-

On the Red Globules.

it, into its elementary or component parts, requires a
longer space of time : it is not true, that there actually
exists any very marked difference between them in re-
gard to the relative proportion of serum.

If serum be exposed to 1.60° of Farenheit's thermome-
ter, it will be converted into a solid tremulous mass, the
effect of coagulation; in which state, a little fluid oozes
out from its sides, termed the serocity: the admixture of
boiling water, of some of the mineral acids, or of alcohol,
also coagulates it. The coagulum of serum is simi-
lar in its properties to common white of egg, or, what is
called, albumen: its serocity has been found by Dr.
Bostock, (in his Analysis of Human Blood,) to consist
of common mucus in conjunction with soda and some
neutral salts.

Serum, or a fluid very like it, is occasionally se-
parated from the blood in large quantities within the dif-
ferent cavities of the body, constituting that disease known
by the name of dropsy. Serum is supposed to be the
menstruum, or solvent of all the secretions.

The crassamentum, or cruor, is composed of two parts:
�the red globules and the coagulable lymph: to the for-
mer the blood owes its color ; to the latter, its solidity
and firmness.

On the Red Globules.

The red globules, or red particles, as they have been
also called, constitute the coloring ingredient of the blood :
they are commonly entangled in the coagulable lymph
during its coagulation, though occasionally some arc
mingled with the serum, tingeing it red. They form, pro-
bably, the least important part of the blood; for in some
animals, many organs of the body are supplied with this

On the Red Globules: 19

fluid without globules : e.g. in most fish the muscles have
no red blood, aud in the common domestic fowl we know
that the muscles of the wings and breast are commonly
white. In the human subject, and in the horse, there are
also some parts that are supplied only with thin color-
less blood, the best example of which is (as we mention-
ed in the former lecture) the more transparent parts of the
eye, where the blood-vessels are too minute, in a state of
health, to admit of the passage of red globules; though,
under certain morbid affections, they become augmented
in size, and then readily allow of the circulation of the
coloring particles : hence these parts, which were be-
fore colorless and transparent, are now obscured and
filled with red blood. In some animals this fluid is al-
together without the red globules: none has been found
in the blood of insects.

It is to microscopical observations that we owe what
speculations have been offered in regard to the size and
shape of these minute bodies; we say speculations, for,
as yet, authors have not come to any determinate conclu-
sions on this subject. From the extreme diversity of
opinion of those who have endeavoured to ascertain the
dimensions of a globule of human blood�one estimating
it at ^5^_TO P^art °f ^a g^ram °f sand, while another computes
it at 3-(/_TO part of an inch, it is evident that much illusion
has ever attended these inquiries. It appears neverthe-
less well authenticated, that their size is not at all in
proportion to the bulk of the animal; for their dimensions
vary but little either in the ox, ass, cat, or mouse*;
and in the skate it is generally believed that they are
larger than in any other animal.

No less discrepant have been the descriptions of au-



		On the Serum.
	16	On the Serum.
	16

subject from which the blood is taken : in some dis- eases, and in weak subjects, the proportion of serum is considerably augmented. Richerand, in his Elements of Phi/siologij, says, that " in the human subject, the serum constitutes about one-half, or three-fourths of the fluid; the coloring matter and fibrina are in inverse ratio of the serum; and it is observed, that the more brilliant and red the color of the blood, the greater the proportion of the fibrous parts." In the healthy horse, the serum may be computed at about one-half of the whole quantity of the blood taken away. On the Serum. Serum is a fluid of a deep yellow, or straw color, hav- ing the appearance of being about the consistence of wa- ter; it is heavier, however, than that fluid, though the thinnest part of the blood, in consequence of its possess- ing soryie degree of tenacity. Though the serum be naturally of a deep yellow, its color is subject to some variation in disease. In the hu- man subject, this has been frequently taken notice of in jaundiced persons, in whom it acquires a brown tinge from the admixture of bile; and in the horse, in which jaundice is comparatively an uncommon disease, we have remarked the same appearance. It has been asserted, that the proportion of serum, in a given quantity of blood, constitutes one of the most material differences between the composition of this fluid in the horse and of that in the human subject: in the one, soon after it has been drawn, we discover the coagulum swimming in serum ; while the other consists of one uni- form congealed mass, whose surface is scarcely moistened by serous exudation. In order to form a correct esti-



		On the Arteries.
J 8		On the Arteries.
J 8

	kind�in these organs the blood is poured into cells, from which veins arise that take it up again. The fifth and last termination is in the beginning of a tube, called an excretory duct: these branches are deno- minated the secreting, or secerning arteries, in conse- quence of their having the power of separating some- thing from the blood of a total different nature from that fluid itself; which secretion is conveyed by the excretory duct from the gland, as fast as it is formed within it by these vessels. The secerning tubes are so minute, that they can seldom be traced, even if injected, with much accuracy. In the liver, from their extreme exility and pe- culiarity of distribution, they have been called penicilli: probably they may be demonstrated better in the kid- ney than in any other gland; in the substance of which we can frequently trace them into small excretory vessels, called the tubuli uriniferi. Most arteries are enveloped in a case of cellular mem- brane, by which they are connected to the surrounding parts; and in some places this substance is so condensed as to give them a complete covering, commonly called a sheath�as happens with the carotid arteries; it is, however, only an adventitious tegument, and is not to be regarded as one of its proper coverings. An artery is composed of three tunics, or coats, con- nected together by cellular membrane, all of which possess a certain degree of elasticity : the external or elastic, the muscular, and the internal, membranous, or cu- ticular coat. It is in the external covering of an artery that the pro- perty of elasticity essentially resides, hence is derived the appellation of elastic coat ; a property, which it not only possesses in the living, but preserves in the dead animal.



		On the Pulse.
48		On the Pulse.
48

	Arteries convey blood from the heart to the different parts of the body for a variety of purposes. We mentioned in our last lecture, that by blood the body was nourished, and its growth promoted�all which is effected by the open mouths of these vessels ; hence, they have been compared to a set of workmen, continually employed in conveying materials for the formation and repair of the animal machine. In some places they form bone ; in others, muscle; and in others again, tendon ; although the blood which they convert into these different parts, is, in all of them, precisely similar in its properties, being pumped into them at the same instant by the heart. In addition to this, however, the arteries produce all the se- cretions of the body : the hoof itself is nothing more than a secretion, which the coffin arteries furnish from the blood ; urine is separated from it by the emulgent arte- ries; and semen, by the spermatic. Inflammation, which is commonly a healthy process set up by nature to repair losses the body may have sustained by accident, or disease, consists in a change of action of the arterial system. On the Pulse. By the alternate contractions and dilatations of the heart and arteries, is produced that well-known motion of them, called their beating, or pulse. prove undeniably, I conceive, the existence of irritability in the smaller or capillary arteries of cold-blooded animals, and conse- quently the possibility of irregular distributions of the blood in par- ticular parts of the body being produced, independently of the heart, by the vital, contractile, or irritable power inherent in even the minutest branches of the arterial system." Vide Thomson's Lec- tures on Inflammation.





	On the Pulse.
	On the Pulse.	55
		55

nausea�and this it does most effectually and safely, when properly administered. Aloes will, very frequently, soon after its exhibition, occasion a refusal of food, from its producing some degree of nausea; but we have not re- marked, that it is attended with much alteration in the quickness of the pulse. Barytes, given in large doses, will cause the pulse to intermit. In most diseases the pulse becomes much more fre- quent than in health ; and for this reason, one of our chief objects in the treatment, is to reduce it to its natural standard; or, when it continues excessively quick, the animal must, eventually, sink from exhaustion of its vital powers. Venesection is, as we mentioned when treating of the blood,' one of our most efficient remedies for this purpose ; aud exposure to cold is occasionally employed with the same view : there are two medicines, however,� digitalis and hellebore, which, when properly exhibited, will prove of the greatest utility to us in practice in ful- filling this indication.



		On the Veins.
	88	On the Veins.

like arteries, a proper elastic coat. They have only two coverings :�a muscular, and an internal or membranous coat. That these vessels are elastic, may be proved by simple extension of their substance, either in the dead, or living animal�the vessel will be found, after being stretched, to contract itself to its former dimensions: it would appear however, that they are more elastic length- wise than in their diameter; for we know that they do not, when empty, maintain their cylindric shape, nor preserve circular apertures when divided. The external or muscular coat of these vessels, is much thinner than that of the arteries; and its fibres are less distinct, being only traceable by the naked eye in some few of them: no wonder, therefore, that its existence, by some anatomists, should have been altogether denied. But there are facts which seem to prove the presence of such a coat, however indemonstrable it may be by actual dissection. We frequently see the superficial veins after exertion, especially those of thorough-bred horses, distend- ed with blood : now, if in this condition the animal be al- lowed to remain at rest, and more particularly, if he be re- moved into a cold atmosphere, in the course of a short time, we shall no longer perceive the subcutaneous vessels equally numerous, nor those, still in view, equally turgid; from which it is evident, that the veins must have pos- sessed a power of contraction�or how could they have rid themselves of their redundant blood ? Again, in bleeding, we know, if pressure be made on the jugular vein for a short time previously to opening it, that the blood will gush out with considerable force, as soon as the lancet is introduced ; and this appears to arise from the elasticity of the vessel; for if the vein be examined after some blood has been drawn, we shall find that it has



		TO THE **'Vtttvimvvi jHrtrical IS^amintng QommitUt,** AND TO THOSE DISTINGUISHED TEJCHERS OF HUMAN MEDICINE, WHO, WITH LIBERALITY UNPRECEDENTED, Have gratuitously opened to �f)e "Ftttvimvn Pupil, THE SOURCES OF HIS FUNDAMENTAL MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE, THESE LECTURES Are inscribed, in testimony of RESPECT, ESTEEM, AND GRATITUDE, By their most devoted Servant, THE AUTHOR.

			a 2



			PREFACE,

		�dN elementary zeork on veterinary subjects, should it be deemed worthy of a place among the many approved in- troductions to various other branches of science, has lit- tle need of commendation, and none of excuse, in making its appearance before the public. Too long have the mem-' bers of the profession experienced the inconvenience of not having by them some accurate synopsis of the scattered elements of their art; too long, indeed, have the medical profession in general looked forward to some scientific pro- duction of this nature. But, could we plead this pressing demand�this deside- ratum in veterinary literature, as an apology for obtruding ourselves thus early upon public notice, it might still be regarded as an unqualified act in us, to attempt the ex- position of the principles of an art of which the prof essors themselves have only published on detached parts. Con- ceiving, however, that the present essays, (in the form of lectures,) concise as they confessedly are, might prove use- ful in the absence of more elaborate composition, and daily witnessing the pernicious influence of books on farriery, written by individuals unacquainted even with the rudi-



			PREFACE.
	VI		PREFACE.

ments of the art they treat on, we have ventured, tiotwith- standing the above acknowledged truth, we fear prejudi- cial to them in the minds of some, to lay them, in their present state, before the public. Having offered our reasons for undertaking a work, we hope, at some future period, to be able to complete; it only remains to crave for it> that liberal examination, and in- dulgent censure, for which those eminent characters, to whose protection we have consigned it, are so universally and so justly esteemed: assuring them, that, however un- finished the superstructure may be found, the foundation has been laid in practical investigations, anatomical and pathological, in an ample field of observation and ejrpe- rience.

		Royal Horse Infirmary, Woolwich, May, 1823.



	CONTENTS.

Page Introduction ��«�«...............................-....<��■ ix LECTURE I. OntheBlood ............................................. 1 LECTURE II. On the Blood�Serum�Red Globules�Coagulable Lymph�Diseases of the Blood�Venesection................................ IS LECTURE III.* On the Arteries ........................................... 32 LECTURE IV. On the Physiology of Arteries�Pulse.......................... 43 LECTURE V. On the Diseases of Arteries�Inflammation.................... 56 LECTURE VI. On Veins�Physiology of Veins �Diseases of Veins�Blood-spavin �Wounds of Veins _a...................�................. 86 LECTURE VII. On the Absorbents�Absorbent Glands.......,................ 107" LECTURE VIII. On the Physiology of Absorbents�Diseases of Absorbents ........ 118 LECTURE IX. On Cellular Membrane�Diseases of Cellular Membrane .......... 131 LECTURE X. On the Brain and Nervous System�Brain�Nerves�Physiology of the Brain and Nerves..................................... 144 LECTURE XI. On Neurotomy�Diseases of the Nerves�Tetanus ..."............ 168 LECTURE XII. On the Muscles�Tendons�Diseases of Tendons�Bursa? Mucosa?� Diseases of Bursa; Mucosas................................. 196 LECTURE XIII. On the Physiology of Muscles�Diseases of Muscles�Stringhalt� Palsy .................................................. 216

		1



		CONTENTS.
Vlll


	LECTURE! XIV. r_age On Glands�Secretion�Diseases of Glands .................... 251 LECTURE XV. On Bones�Diseases of Bones�Exostosis�Marrow ............. 234 LECTURE XVI. On Cartilage�Diseases of Cartilage�Ligaments and Joints�Dis- eases of Joints�Ossification�Division of Bones�Prominences and Cavities of Bones........................................ 262 LECTURE XVII. On the Skeleton�Spine �True Vertebra;�Cervical Vertebra?�Dor- sal Vertebrae�Lumbar Vertebra?�Os Sacrum�Ossa Coccygis� Diseases of the Spine�Fracture and Anchylosis .............. 287 LECTURE XVIII. Pelvis�Ossa Innominata�Sternum�Cosla?�Bones of the Fore Ex- tremity�Scapula�Os Humeri�Radius et Ulna.............. 305 LECTURE XIX. Carpus�Os Scaphoides�Os Lunare�Os Cuneiforme�Os Trapezium -�Os Trapezoides�Os Magnum�Os Unciforme�Os Pisiforme� Bones of the Leg�Os Metacarpi Magnum�Ossa Metacarpi Parva �Diseases of the Metacarpal Bones�Splint.................. 318 LECTURE XX. Os Suffraginis�Ossa Sesamoidea�Os Corona?�Diseases of the Pas- tern Bones�Ringbone�Os Naviculare�Os Pedis--Diseases of the Navicular and Coffin Bones............................ 330 LECTURE XXI. Bones of the Hind Extremity.�Os Femoris�Patella�Tibia et Fi- bnla�On the Tarsus�Astragalus�Os Calcis�Os Cuboides�Os Cuneiforme Magnum�Os Cuneiforme Medinm�Os Cuneiforme Parvum�Os Metatarsi Magnum�Diseases of the Bones of the Hock�Spavin.......................................... 343 LECTURE XXII. Bones of the Head�Bones of the Cranium�Ossa Frontis�Ossa Parielalia�Ossa Temporum�Pars Squamosa�Pars Petrosa�Os Occipitis�Os Sphenoides�Os Ethmoides.................... 359 LECTURE XXIII. Bones of the Face�Ossa Nasi�Ossa Unguis�Ossa Malarum�Os- sa Maxillaria Superiora�Ossa Maxillaria Anteriora�Ossa Palati �Ossa Spongiosa vel Turbinata, superiora et infenora�Vomer� Maxilla inferior vel posterior�Diseases of the Bones of the Head 368



			INTRODUCTION.

		The Veterinary Art, according toils present ac- ceptation, comprehends a knowledge of the external form, as well as the internal structure and economy, of our principal domestic quadrupeds; their appropriate ma- nagement; the nature, causes, and treatment of their dis- eases ; and the art of shoeing such as require it. The horse, and his varieties�the mule and ass, the dog, the ox, the sheep, the pig, and some others, come equally under the ministering hand of the veterinary sur- geon : the comparative value however of the horse, desig- nates him as the object of his primary, we had almost said his sole consideration ; so that the rest, regarded as another and an inferior class, have but little of his time or study devoted to them. The veterinary art, become a science, alone preceded in practical benefit by that of medicine, of which it is a luxuriant and aspiring branch, has for its objects the pre- servation in health, and restoration from disease, of an animal nearest to man himself in the scale of animated



		X INTRODUCTION. nature; whether we contemplate his beauty, his worth, or his general and extensive use. Perhaps no age, nor country, has so elevated the horse beyond the common level of the brute creation as this : he is housed, clothed, and fed, at a cost only exceeded by that appropriated to his master, to whose gains he is instrumental, or to whose diversions he is indispensable ; his life is watched with a peculiar care, and his loss too often irreparable. If the veterinary art be estimated as beneficial and important in exact ratio to the value of the animal to whose well-being all its objects are directed, surely at no antecedent period has it merited the same degree of encouragement as at the present: should we, therefore, not have been suc- cessfully engaged in our efforts to cultivate and improve it, let us hope, at least, that such attempts are deserving of commendation ! Had it not been for the fostering patronage of some of the most exalted characters in this country, the veterinary art must still have lain prostrate at the feet of ignorance and superstition; no less a personage, however, than our magnanimous King himself, ever distinguished for pro- moting that which is nationally useful and beneficial, has deigned to raise it into importance and respectability, in appearing as the Patron of the Veterinary College. Were not this of itself full and sufficient testimony of the pre- sent consideration of our art, we might adduce that very respectable and honorable list of governors of the insti-



		INTRODUCTION. XI tution, the bare perusal of which will evince, that the nobility, the talent, and the wealth of our nation, have subscribed to its protection, its advancement, and its dif- fusion. But let us descend a little into detail�we shall findj by pure and plain matter of fact, that, prior to its being grafted upon the luxuriant stock of science, great num- bers of our horses became prematurely unserviceable : the natural consequence of which was heavy and continual national expenditure; not to glance at the ineffective state to which our cavalry and other horse departments were necessarily reduced. Let us take, by way of exam- ple, the present system of shoeing horses. In the course of a long experience we have ascertained, that, by a skil- ful performance of this branch of our art, we can prevent many of the diseases, and them the most formidable, to which the foot of the horse is liable ; enable horses to go with ease to themselves, and safety to their riders; and preserve them to use to a much longer period than here- tofore. On the other hand, to sketch a picture of the me- lancholy effects resulting from the practice of shoeing in the hands of professionally unscientific persons, when the horses belonging to the Honorable Board of Ordnance were first placed under the superintendance of veterinary surgeons, numbers of them, highly valuable in other re- spects, were cast for death purely because their feet were incurably diseased. Thrush, and its sequel canker, corns,



		INTRODUCTION. XH1 imperfections of male and female, by developing the na- ture of those diseases to which each may be disposed, and by informing him what are and what are not ingenerate, it renders competent to produce, by certain unerring laws, an improved and matchless progeny; to the second it is both useful and profitable, in teaching him the means of prevention, as well as those of palliation and cure, of dis- order in his stud ; the third it fills with renewed hope, in having restored to the goal of contention, his broken- down but celebrated racer; the last it contributes in no trifling degree even to the happiness of, in administering to those maladies which his old and favorite horse may have contracted in his service. To the enlightened practitioners of medicine of the present day, we need say but little to convince them, that veterinary inquirers may, from time to time, by extensive opportunities in comparative anatomy, add something to the general fund of medical knowledge ; and that, so far, they may now and then consult veterinary works with ad- vantage. Indeed, so much analogy is there throughout, between the structure and economy of the horse and those of the human subject, and so alike are the chief phenomena of pathology, that the surgeon has but little to do to become the veterinary surgeon, though the con- verse of this, unfortunately for the latter, by no means obtains. And where is the surgeon who would not him- self direct the treatment of his sick or lame horse, in pre-



		xiv INTRODUCTION. ference to calling in the village blacksmith?�a man whose knowledge is necessarily confined to that of nail- ing the shoe to the foot ? He would not permit a shoe- maker to visit one of his own patients, why should he al- low the blacksmith to prescribe for his horse? The the- ory of medicine in the human subject, is the theory of medicine in the brute ; it is the application of that theory �the practice alone that is different: whether we pre- scribe for a man, or a horse, a dog, or a cat, the laws of the animal economy are the same in all, and one, and that an unerring system of principles, built upon ascer- tained and established truths, is to dictate our practice in all. We might as well, in reference to the principles of each, attempt to separate surgery from medicine, as insist that either of these arts, in theory, is essentially different from the veterinary : every day's experience only serves to confirm this�our belief; in shewing us how often the dis- eases of a horse arise from the same causes as those of a man, exhibit the same indications, and require a similar method of cure. Were this not true, how is it that the testimonial for practice�the diploma cf a veterinary sur- geon, owes its stamp of importance and indisputable qualification to the signatures of practitioners of human medicine ? Will it be said, that these distinguished cha- racters are, as physicians and surgeons, unacquainted with the principles of veterinary science? This is no new doctrine�it has not originated in our time : Vegetius,



		INTRODUCTION. XV fourteen hundred years ago, when he was collecting ma- terials for his work, De Arte Veterinarid, wisely, not only consulted the veterinary surgeons, but also the phy- sicians of the day ; nam (inquit) mulomedicinse doetrina ab arte medicinse non adeo in multis discrepat, sed in multis plurimisque consentit. The advantages resulting to the veterinary surgeon from a knowledge of the different branches of human medicine, can alone be duly appreciated by its possessor : without it, he is but ill prepared to meet the medical literati of the day ; with it, he stands as an effectual barrier to im- proper interference on the one side, and to the dissemina- tion of doctrines flimsy or absurd, on the other. The young veterinarian we would admonish to be very cau- tious how he admits empiricism into his counsel�how, in other words, he practises that which his judgment may condemn : pin your faith upon no man's sleeve, but look for yourself as you proceed, is inscribed on the di- rection-post which points out the road to professional ce- lebrity. To the old practitioner we would fain hint, that nothing is so effectual a barrier to advancement�nothing so prejudicial to the art, as to continue in the use of re- medies purely because they were the infallibles of those who went before : let him be wary how he vainly piques himself of his experience; for he who reposes himself on practice, to the utter exclusion of theory, we do not care what his experience may be, is but a dabbler in the

				?



		INTRODUCTION.
	XVI	INTRODUCTION.
	XVI

art, and one that tampers with the lives of animals unfor- tunate enough to be placed under his care . In order to convey some idea of the present state of veterinary science, it may not be amiss to take a hasty re- trospective view of our art, from the institution of the Ve- terinary College. This establishment may be said to have had its origin in the Odiham Agricultural Society; who, in the year 1785, first occupied themselves about the im- provement of the veterinary art, then in a very neglected condition: it is M. Sainbel, however, who came over to England in the following year, with a view of pub- licly teaching it, and who afterwards became professor, whom we must regard as the founder of the College.* We * We recall to memory here an anecdote so pertinent to this part of our subject, that we cannot forbear relating it. A farrier who was subpoenaed on a horse-cause, was opposed, as evidence of the contending party, by a young veterinary surgeon. The son of Vulcan, who had from the beginning eyed his professional anta- gonist with all the spleen and self-sufficiency so peculiar to his sect on such occasions, as one of comparative ignorance, when put in competition with him, the possessor of grey hairs and venerable looks, during his examination by the counsel, to whom he was re- plying in a most haughty and assuming tone, was asked by the judge, "and pray, sir, how long have you been a farrier?" to which our hero, astonished that his lordship had not heard of his professional fame, nor of that of his progenitors, answered, " how long a farrier, my lord ! I was horn a farrier, my father before me was a. farrier, and so was my grandfather ! ! !"



		INTRODUCTION. XVH may consider this, therefore, as the epocha of scientific farriery in England; though, long before, there had been much written on the subject, particularly by the French, who, for a considerable time anterior to this, led the way in vetennary pursuits; which only required selection and arrangement, by a person of good discriminative talent, and sound medical knowledge, to convert it into materials fully sufficient for laying down the rudiments of veteri- nary science. To the lot of Mr. Coleman, the suc- cessor of M. Sain eel, and present professor to the College, fell this gratifying task : what professional fame this gentleman has acquired in its acquittance, or with how much respect and esteem he is looked up to by the members of the institution for the services he has ren- dered it, need not be the theme of our pen. Seeing, then, that there was much useful, though imperfectly digested matter to be obtained from the perusal of works on far- riery ; and that to this was to be added all that bad any relation to the art in comparative anatomy, physiology, chymistry, human surgery and medicine, which were at that time, and have been ever since, making rapid strides From a long list of French authors we may adduce, Sojlley- sel, Bourgelat, La Fosse, Vitet, and Sainbei, as excellent sources of practical information : among numerous of our own ^wnters on farriery, &c. Blundeville, Markiiam, Newcastle, onap_E) Gibson, Bracken, Bartlett, Osmer, Clarke, and Stubbs are the principal contributors. b



		XV111 INTROnUCTION. in advancement, we shall find that our art was suscepti- ble of very considerable improvement, in a very short space of time; and that we ought not to be at the pre- sent day, remembering that this happened thirty years ago, so young and inexperienced in the practice of it as many seem inclined to believe. It is now quite time that we were acquainted with the anatomy and physio- logy of the horse, so far as our practice demands; and it is to be hoped that we are making daily progress in our pathological knowledge: though this last is a branch of comparative slow growth, and one that is peculiarly shy of bringing forth fruit. We shall, at ano- ther time, prosecute an inquiry into the existing state of veterinary science in this country ; consider the national means provided for its improvement and diffusion, in the establishment of the College; analyze the system of education therein pursued, comparing it with those now adopted at the principal continental veterinary schools, and with that originally proposed by M. SA1NBEL ; ascertain what progress has absolutely been made, notice the dis- coveries, and endeavour to trace each to its respective and proper source ; and offer such hints and suggestions for the further benefit and advancement of our art, as strike us not to be unworthy the attention�nay, serious consi- deration of those more immediately concerned in the welfare and promotion of this very useful branch of ge- neral knowledge.



		INTRODUCTION. XIX It is far from our intention here to enumerate the "dis- coveries" that have been made, even in our own time; suf- fice be it for the present to observe, that, with the power- ful aid of our cotemporaries in medicine, whose path is our nearest way to perfection, we are rapidly effecting a complete revolution in the veterinary art. We have had, and we still have, great obstacles to contend with:�pre- judice, envy, obstinacy, and ignorance; we hope, how- ever, to find none of them insurmountable; on the con- trary, in process of time, as we advance in knowledge and importance, to tread them one and all under foot. Let us act towards one another as become the respecta- ble members of a liberal profession, engaged in one com- mon cause, whose promotion is the interest and the be- nefit of us all�let us go hand in hand, and unanimously and resolutely oppose the incursions of that individual who would sell our present rank and prospective prefer- ment to fill a private purse ; while we unsparingly lavish our praises and our honors upon him, who, in being a real and unsophisticated friend to our art, contributes to the welfare and advancement of every one of us. Although we abstain from, indeed our limits will not admit of our making mention of the progressive improve- ment the art has undergone, even since the foundation of the College, we shall take a hasty review of the principal literary productions of the professors and members of the institution. b2



		XX INTRODUCTION. Charles Vial de Sainbel, the founder of our College, now no more, if we are to repose faith on what he wrote, and on what he had but time to lay the foun- dation stone of, had great and important designs indeed in view, to the aggrandizement of veterinary science. His career, however, was of so short duration, that he has only left us�besides an excellent and unpractised plan for the education of eleves veterinaires�a work, translated into English, containing some very pithy Observations on the Art of Veterinary Medicine; an Essay on the Propor- tions of Eclipse; another, which obtained a prize giveu by the Royal Society of Medicine, on the Grease and Watry Sores on the Legs of Horses; a third, oh the Glan- ders; and a few short Observations on the Cholic, or Gripes. That Sainbel, had he lived, would have pro- ceeded on sound principles, may be inferred from his fourth observation on the veterinary art. " The object of this art is therefore not only congenial with that of hu- man medicine, but the very same paths which lead to a knowledge of the diseases of man, lead equally to a know- ledge of those of brutes. An accurate examination of the interior parts of their bodies, a studious survey of the ar- rangement, structure, form, connexion, use, and relation of these parts, and of the laws by which they are intended to act, as also of the nature and property of the various foods, and other agents, which the earth so liberally pro- vides for their support and cure ; these form in a great



		INTRODUCTION. XXI measure the sound and sure foundation of all medical sci- ence, whatever living individual animal is the subject of our consideration." First in the catalogue of works of more modern vete- rinary writers, in volume and importance, presents itself that of Professor Coleman ; wherein the Structure, Economy, and Diseases of the Foot of the Horse, and the Principles and Practice of Shoeing, are treated of with great clearness and ingenuity : the descriptive part is well illustrated by several highly finished paintings. Messrs. Moorcroft, Bracy Claek, Goodwin, Budd, and Powis, have also written on this subject. Mr. Goodwin, whose is a good practical work on shoeing horses, has given us a synoptical display of the vari- ous methods adopted, in this branch of our art, by dif- ferent nations; and introduced some modification in the present practice of it; which, in our opinion, will be sootier or later carried into effect; even by the adherents to other systems; and may be so, we also think, without any concession of their present tenets. Professor Peall has published some Observations on the Diseases of the Horse, and his Stable Management; unrivalled by any book of the kind, either for the practi- cal matter it contains, or the liberal and scientific style in which it is written. Mr. Bracy Clark has presented us with an inte- resting Essay on the Pots of Horses and other Animals ; wherein the transformations, and other curious incidents



		XXli INTRODUCTION. connected with the natural history of that little animal, are with much science and research developed to us. The same writer has published another Essay on the Gripes of' Horses; and, more recently, a work entitled, The Reformed Veterinary Pharmacopoeia. Mr. Sewell, assistant professor to the college, we be- lieve every member of the profession will attest, has long and unremittingly exerted himself in the augmentation of veterinary knowledge; and, we feel pleasure in adding, with no ordinary success. Among other innovations in practice, of small comparative import, we must not lose sight of the operation, called neurotomy, the merit of which is the exclusive right of Mr. Sewell. It is illi- beral! it is false, to assert that it is not! But Mr. Se- well has treated the groom's oracle* with deserved contempt-------with silence. The following members of the institution have also become authors; some of general treatises, others of es- says, dissertations, &c. the bare mention of whose names we must be content with here, or we shall extend these preliminary observations much beyond their prescribed limits: viz. Messrs. Boaedman, Lawkence, Wil- kinson, Shipp, Smith, Ryding, Feron, Burke, and Denny. * Treatise on Veterinary Medicine in four volumes, &c. &c. by James White, late Veterinary Surgeon to the First or Royal Dragoons. Vide Vol. III. p. 148 of the 13th edition.



		INTRODUCTION. XX1U Science, then, may at length be said to have dawned on the veterinary art�society has, now, long regarded it as one of adequate utility to merit its support and encou- ragement�the Veterinary College has been established thirty years, and has dispersed its members throughout the united kingdom. Notwithstanding all this however, had not others, under less favorable circumstances than our own, have been well received upon the arena of pub- lic decision, we should not yet have ventured to have made our appearance at the same tribunal. It has been said, and with much truth, that he who would be of essential service to the profession as an au- thor, should take up the investigation of one subject, and confine himself to that alone : thus has medicine attained its present pre-eminence in this country. It appears to us however, that, before any science, or art, can make great progress, it is requisite that every member of it be furnished with a synopsis of the fundamental principles of that science, or art ; and that, for the want of such im- plements, many are deterred from lending their aid, who would otherwise prove very useful laborers in the vine- yard. To this end, it is not enough that these rules for their guidance be propounded to them once, or twice, or even thrice ; but it is absolutely necessary that there be some authentic records of them kept, accessible to every individual of the profession : so that the students may ^av»il themselves of them in the absence of their teachers ;



		XXIV INTRODUCTION. the members refer to them at pleasure; and the public in general be informed of the pretensions of its practi- tioners, by a display of that knowledge which they are, or ought to be, in the possession of. No man supposes that his watch can be repaired at the anvil, though there be those who send their horses to the blacksmith to be cured of their disorders : they know that this blacksmith is unacquainted with the mechanism of a watch, and yet they intrust a machine to him, to which, in point of complication of structure, a rattle bears more affinity to a watch, than a watch to it! Why then are gentlemen so blind? Is it that a horse is of less value than a watch ? No ! It is that the vile trash diffused in treatises on farriery, is so truly disgusting to a man of com- mon reflection, that he forms his opinions of the art by those he entertains of the book, and considers it specially adapted to the genius of his groom or coachman, or suit- ably lodged within the skullcap of his blacksmith or bell-hanger�below the dignity of a man of education, and incompatible with the habits of a gentleman! " Mi- serable animal I" says Sainbel, " bereft of speech, thou can'st not complain, when to the disease witli which thou art afflicted, excruciating torments are superadded, by the ignorant efforts of such men, who, at first sight, and without any investigation to lead them to the source of thy disorder, pronounce a hackneyed, common-placed opinion on thy case, and then proceed with all expedition



		INTRODUCTION. XXV to open thy veins, lacerate thy flesh, cauterize thy sinews, and drench ihy stomach with drugs, adverse in general to the cure they engage to perform*." To those who may regard the veterinary profession in other light than as one, not only deservedly established upon the basis of respectability, but, from its objects, necessarily requiring ability and a knowledge of medicine to practise with advantage, we would put the following questions of Vegetius; (a writer we have already quoted;) and then ask them, if these arguments, surely excellent, if not elegant of their kind, were tenable at that day, with how much more force and truth can we apply them at the present ? Quis aut nosse curas jumentorum erubescendum pu- fet, cum optima jumenta habere gloriosum sit 1 Quis vituperationi det id posse curare, quod laudi ducitur pos- sidere ? Forsan ipsa opera mulomedicorum videtur ab- jectior, notitia aut ciirationis non solum honestissimis, sed etiam disertissimis convenit: ut provisione et ordinatione sollerti curatis animalibus et damnis careant, et volupta- tibus perfruantur. Highly respectable as every member of the law and di- vinity professionally is, and great as the honors are con- ferred on some of the most eminent, yet do we find in- Vide Saijibel's General Observations on the Art of Veterinary Medicine.-



		XXvi INTRODUCTION. stances, too numerous indeed, of chicanery and apostacy in both these professions : shall we then brand the vete- rinary art with stigma because one who professes it swerves from that course which circumspection might, and honesty ought to dictate ? The man who barters his reputation for dirty pounds, shillings, and pence�be he who he may�whether he preside over or be a member of it, forfeits the confidence and good-will of a profes- sion he living dishonors, and dead leaves a name, a blot jn its history. That individual has ever appeared to us as the most skilful and best practically informed veterinary surgeon, caeteris paribus, who is most familiarly acquainted with the natural habits of the horse, as well as those various states in which he is placed by art;�either in the stable, upon the turf, in the field, or upon the road: " A skilful horseman, and a huntsman bred;" and for the same reason, that he is regarded as the most able physician, who has well informed himself of the ha- bits of life and constitution of his patient. In the selection of a hackney, for example, we should estimate that man's judgment at little, who was not only a good horseman him- self, but who had not ridden a variety of horses of that denomination ; nor should we consult him in the choice of a racer, who was not perfectly conversant in the trials and performances of horses of various breeds, and differ-



		INTRODUCTION. SXV11 ent shapes; neither would we give him credit for any but fanciful knowledge of equitation, who could not set a sauteur in a school, or cross the country upon a well- trained hunter. Let it not be understood, however, that we coincide with that system of education which would train up the 61eve vet�rinaire in a stable, or a blacksmith's shop, ra- ther than initiate him in the different branches of litera- ture: surely, the study of medicine in the horse involves nothing so ecurien in its nature as to render it necessary to be stalled for its attainment! The student of medi- cine receives clinical instructions, and is an attentive ob- server of the progress of disease ; but it is neither requi- site, nor advisable, that he should spend that time in the wards of an hospital, which he now, with such in- calculably greater ultimate advantages, devotes to classi- cal and other learning! Without a due share of practical knowledge, it is true, our medical acquirements are ever leading us into error; and this is the only excuse we can make for them who are eternally bewildering themselves in framing plans in the cabinet for the farrier to look through when they enter the forge. In fine, it appears that a happy combination of medical science with equestrian skill in the same individual, will eminently qualify him as ^a veterinary surgeon. Were the art intrusted to the first, U would, at no remote period, dissipate itself in specula- tion and refinement; and were it in the hands of the last,



		XXV111 INTRODUCTION. it would rapidly sink again into that abyss of ignorance and blind humiliation, from which�and woe be to him who from sinister and selfish motives would again darken and enslave it�it is rising fast into the horizon of science. But to conclude these preliminary observations� With all that was known prior to the institution of the College�with that vast accession of convertible science for which we are indebted to human medicine�and with what has since been added by later writers, we purpose to compile a regular course of lectures on the veterinary art; parts of which we shall submit from time to time, until the whole be completed, to the perusal of those de- sirous to acquire an elementary knowledge of it. For students we principally design them: should they, how- ever, be deemed worthy of the attention of others, we shall feel amply repaid for our time and application. The anatomical part of the work is taken from our own dissections�without adherence to the details of others. The veterinary practitioner does not require so accu- rate an anatomy as the surgeon: he has seldom to cut down on an artery; never to amputate a limb. There are some parts of the animal, indeed, of which a know- ledge would lead to little or no practical utility what- ever: such are many muscles of the back, loins, neck, and head�the minute structure of the brain and nervous system� the precise course of blood-vessels removed from external injury; and some others.



		INTRODUCTION. XXlx Our physiology we adapt to the popular doctrines of the day. To compose our pathology, we avail ourselves of the labors of those few who have written from their own ob- servations ; and we have copious notes of our own to re- fer to, as well as a large assemblage of records, collected by ourselves and others in the course of a very extensive practice of nearly thirty years duration, in the service of the Honorable Board of Ordnance. Such are the materials we have the use of iri the con- struction of our work, and such are our pretensions to public notice : our aim is to lay down principles funda- mental to the attainment of a knowledge of the veterinary art. __________ Before we enter on the immediate consideration of these lectures, it will be proper to sketch an outline of their contents ; and explain what we mean by the ana- tomy, physiology, and pathology of the horse. In order to obtain a thorough knowledge of any science, it is expedient to commence with the most simple, and proceed progressively to the most complicated parts. This is the course pursued by our most eminent teachers of the anatomy and physiology of the human body; and it is that which we have observed in the compilation of these lectures. Were the term anatomy strictly confined to its deriva-



		XXX INTRODUCTION. tion, it would simply imply the dissection of parts; but, according to its present acceptation, we mean by it�a knowledge of the structure of the component parts of an animal, and of separating and distinguishing those parts from one another. Anatomy may be divided into human, and veterinary .-�the former being that which restricts its inquiries to the human species ; the latter, that which ex- tends them to all our domestic animals, from the horse, its special object, downwards. From a comparison of the two, we derive comparative anatomy. -By physiology, we mean a knowledge of the actions or functions�the economy or use of parts. As parts, by performing different actions from those which are natural to them, are altered in regard to their original structure, so we have a third division, termed pathology. In order to elucidate these objects of inquiry, let us take some part of the body, and thus methodically exa- mine it: say, for example, the hoof. We describe it to be of certain relative dimensions, and definite shape; to be divided into crust, sole, frog, and bars; to be composed of horny fibres, either regular or irregular in their course; and to be firmly attached to the parts within : all this is comprised in its anatomy. Its physiology, is that of con- taining and protecting the soft, or sensitive parts ; of sus- taining the animal's weight, and preventing slipping; and of expanding in due ratio to the force with which the



		INTRODUCTION. XXXI foot is put down, and thus counteracting the effects of concussion. By knowing its healthy appearances, we become acquainted with its morbid, or pathological con- ditions : we find it contracted, preternaturally upright, small, convex, flat, or concave. The constituent parts of the body may be disposed in three classes. The first will comprehend the organs of locomotion:�the bones and muscles. The second, those subservient to nutrition and sensation:�the viscera, blood- vessels, and absorbents�and the brain and nerves. The third, those destined for the reproduction of the species : �the parts of generation in both sexes. Anatomy, then, may be considered to be a knowledge of the materials, and of the manner in which these mate- rials are connected in the construction of the animal ma- chine. Its framework, that upon which all the other parts are distributed, to which they are attached, and by which they are sustained, is constituted of hard, inflexible parts, called bones: if an animal fracture one of the prin- cipal bones of the leg, its pillar of support being lost, the limb can no longer uphold the body. Bones, however, not only afford stability, attachment, and support to the other�the soft parts, but serve to contain the more im- portant of them, and defend them from external injury : such as the brain, the thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic viscera. By contrasting the skeleton with the living animal, we



		XXXli INTRODUCTION. mark the proportion which the bony fabric bears to the bulk of the whole body : we perceive that the bones, di- vested of flesh, form but an outline of the original animal. Now the flesh is divisible into a very considerable number of distinct portions, which anatomists call muscles; and these parls it is that we are to regard as the essential agents "of motion : the bones are the passive, these are the active locomotive organs. To the muscles, the limbs chiefly owe their bulk and form ; of them a considerable part of the trunk is composed ; and by them all the mo- tions of both are executed. They uphold the body while standing, move it from one place to another, and render it fixed at pleasure; they direct the eyes to the objects of vision, erect or depress the ears as befits the vibration of sound, and give motion to the jaws for the comminution of food : they are also the agents of respiration, and are concerned in a variety of ways with other important func- tions, a detail of which would be ill-timed in this hasty review of them. Were the limbs composed of but two, or three bones, they would be but ill adapted to perform that variety and extent of motion which they now do, in transporting the animal from place to place ; on the contrary, we find them, most wisely, to consist of several, differing in size and shape, so arranged and accommodated as to act with facility, and surprising rapidity: to give strength, and ad- mit of speed, no less than one and twenty are found in



		INTRODUCTION. XXX1U the fore extremity. The ends of bones, shaped so as to fit into each other, are covered by cartilage, better known by the name of gristle; and are fastened together by dense, fibrous cords, denominated ligaments; whose in- ternal surface is lined by a membranous bag, containing what is called joint-oil�in technical language, synovia. Thus is constituted a. joint: in the motion of which, the nice adaptation of the bones, and due tensity of their li- gaments, prevent dislocation ; the cartilages, like cushions of support, guard against concussion ; while the synovia is a true joint-oil for the lubrication of the whole. Next we come to take a view of those organs concern- ed in the maintenance of life. In order to furnish nutri- ment to the system, the animal, irresistibly compelled by the sense of hunger, takes in from time to time a certain proportion of food ; which, after it has undergone tritu- ration by the teeth, and has been moistened by saliva, is conveyed by the esophagus, or gullet, into the stomach. Here the several matters of which it consists are reduced to a soft, uniform mass, called chyme; and this is further converted within the intestines, into which the stomach impels it, by the admixture of different juices; the two most remarkable of which are furnished by the liver and pancreas�the bile, and pancreatic fiuid. .At this time, ^a milky and highly nutritive essence separates itself, and ^Is absorbed by numberless capillary tubes, called lacteals, ^a,\|d conveyed by them into the system; while the resi- c



		Xxxiv INTRODUCTION. duary matters, feculent in their nature, continue their route through the guts to be expelled at the anus. The blood, the nutritive fluid to the animal as the sap is to the vegetable, is conducted to every part of the body by a system of vessels, named arteries ; whence it is re-conveyed to the heart by others, similar in composi- tion and distribution, called veins; and this perpetual motion of it, is what we denote by the term circulation. Having, however, once performed this circuit, wherein it has served the purposes of nourishment, growth, and reproduction, and supplied the various secretions�such as bile, semen, urine, and saliva, it is unfit for the like uses again, until it has been exposed to the influence of the air. This is effected in the lungs, and is the ultimate de- sign of respiration. Thus constituted�with the instruments of motion, and the means of preserving and repairing itself�still does the machine require an active principle�a primum mo- bile�a spring that gives impulse to the whole, ere it can possess the power of self-operation. This alone re- sides in the brain and nervous system�the organ of sen- sation and motion; whose presence essentially distin- guishes the animal from the vegetable. By the faculty of motion, animals are enabled to perform certain actions; by that of sensation, they obtain a knowledge of what is passing around them. The only sense that pervades al- most all classes of animals, is that of feeling : the others,