316 THE CONTAGIOUS TYPHUS 



let me add, of the pathology of all animals. Let 

 us suppose for a moment that the task had 

 been imposed upon us before entering upon 

 the study of human maladies, to observe the 

 structure of plants and animals, to submit 

 their tissues to microscopical examination 

 and chemical analysis ; to study experimentally 

 all their functions and diseases, and acknow- 

 ledge that had such been the case, the anatomy, 

 physiology, and pathology of man would have 

 been far better understood, and that most of 

 the difficulties against which we now contend 

 in vain in our helplessness, might easily have 

 been overcome. 



Comparative anatomy and physiology are 

 the first conditions of all medical instruction 

 of a serious character ; there can be 110 doubt 

 on the subject, but the evidence being not 

 perhaps so palpable with respect to compara- 

 tive pathology, it will not be useless, therefore, 

 to enter into fuller particulars as to this 

 subject. 



We know not whether any one has ever 

 sought to retrace the first origin of our diseases 

 in the animal kingdom, but it would un- 

 doubtedly be a study of great scientific interest. 



