514 CHAPTER 66. 



muscular systems. The circulation of blood in animals, though the pulse 

 may be somewhat quicker or somewhat slower, is the same as in man. 

 In fact, almost all that is known of the circulation of the blood is derived 

 from observation on the circulation in the frog's foot. The respiratory 

 organs, the heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, nervous system, and all the more 

 important organs of the body, have, in the higher class of animals, the 

 same functions as in man, and in disease require the same treatment. 



As regards treatment, and as regards the diseases themselves, there is 

 but little distinction -between the veterinary and the human medical art. 

 It is not meant that the medicines used are exactly the same in quantity, 

 or perhaps in quality, but the principles on which they are applied are 

 the same. Animals, as a general rule, are acted on through the same 

 organs and in the same way as human beings, though the medicines used 

 are not always the same, nor do all medicines produce the same effects on 

 all animals. Purgatives, for instance, produce the same effect on the 

 horse as on man. But the medicine given is not the same. Aloes is the 

 best and safest aperient in the horse, whilst in man it has a drastic 

 effect. Again, aloes is not suitable to cows. Salts produce in them the 

 safest effects. The tonics and depressants used are the same in horses 

 and men, and produce the same effects. Blisters act similarly in both, 

 but probably on account of the greater thickness of the skin they require 

 to be applied more freely in the horse than in man. For the same reason 

 actual cautery can be applied to horses, whilst it is generally inapplicable 

 to man. In liver disease, so common among stud-bred horses, i. 6. half 

 English, half native horses, in India, calomel is used as in man ; but from 

 some peculiarity of the system the dose in the horse is usually a scruple, 

 i. e. twenty grains. On the other hand, in the canine species, a dose 

 which might be given to a child will produce salivation. 



Some animals can absorb into their stomachs what are deadly poisons 

 in man. The white ant of India can eat strychnia ; the toucan feeds on 

 the seeds of nux vomica ; the goat eats tobacco. 



Again, though the organs are the same and perform the same func- 

 tions, yet similar organs vary very much in size in various animals, 

 according to the use for which Nature has designed the animal. In the 

 horse the stomach is small. He is evidently intended to feed frequently 

 and sparingly, to be fit at all times to seek safety in flight ; for Nature 

 has given him no horns, only heels to use in flight. The ox, on the 

 contrary, has a very capacious stomach, is incapable of rapid motion, but 

 is provided with horns for defence. The camel has a very peculiar 

 arrangement for retaining water in the stomach, and is therefore well 

 fitted for traversing large sandy plains, where water can be obtained only 

 at somewhat rare intervals. 



Still these differences do not affect the general question, namely, that 

 in the higher class of animals, and to a certain extent in the lowest, the 

 organs of life are the same and require somewhat similar treatment as in 

 the human being. 



From some diseases common to human beings some animals are 

 exempt. For example, the horse rarely suffers from toothache ; the 



