4 OUTLINES OF EQUINE ANATOMY. 



therefore, is liable to decompose sooner than one of oppo- 

 site characteristics. Human bodies are preserved by injec- 

 tion of the vessels with solution of arsenic, carbolic acid, 

 and other preservative fluids, but such a precaution is not 

 necessary in veterinary anatomy, since our subjects are 

 destroyed when in a state of health, are cheaper, and will 

 keep for three weeks with care. The bodies of animals 

 which have died or been destroyed when suffering from 

 disease are deficient in tone or firmness of the tissues in 

 general. Death from hsemorrhage or bleeding causes a 

 general want of colour of the parts, and therefore of one of 

 the most useful guides in separation, while puncture of 

 the brain by the poleaxe or " pithing " produces satis- 

 factory results with instant death. 



When placed on the dissecting-room table the subject is 

 generally rested on its right or left side for the convenience 

 of the dissectors, six of whom work at the same subject, 

 dividing it among themselves into six parts — head, neck, 

 abdomen (including the pelvis), back (including the 

 thorax), fore and hind extremities. Such a division, 

 though extremely artificial, is advantageous, though it 

 requires cordial co-operation at the boundaries of the 

 various regions ; thus, the longus colli lies for the most 

 part in the neck, but extends into the thorax ; the proper 

 demonstration of this muscle, therefore, requires the 

 action of two individuals. The subject should be placed 

 with the abdomen towards the light, as the organs con- 

 tained in it are of much importance and require careful 

 dissection. We may here observe that some art is re- 

 quired in the distinction of the different structures in 

 different positions of the subject ; diversity in this respect, 

 therefore, while it renders the student proficient in prac- 

 tical anatomical knowledge, but ill accords with that 

 " cramming" for examination which consists in the reten- 

 tion verbatim of passages from books, and the fixture of 

 pictures of the subject in definite positions on the mind. 

 The pritnary lines of incision through the shin are — 

 I. From the root of the ear to the throat just behind 



the angle of the jaw. 

 n. From the withers to the point of the shoulder and 



on to the centre of the chest. 

 III. From the commencement of the back to the under 



surface of the chest near the elbow. 



