87 



Tliere was, of course, some excuse for 

 these old doctors. Little was then known 

 of the functions and philosophy of respi- 

 ration, and even the existence of a pul- 

 monary circulation had hardly been dis- 

 covered, and was not at all understood. 

 But this excuse is not available for us in 

 the closing days of the nineteenth century, 

 and it is a sad commentary on the intelli- 

 gence of educated man, and we may add, 

 of the medical profession, that in this re- 

 gard we have retrograded instead of ad- 

 vancing ; and in caring for our horses, we 

 are practically behind the semi-civilized, 

 and even savage races. 



