26 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



a healthy state ; but the moment it comes in contact with the vital 

 current by other means, that very moment life is endangered. 



It was from experiments on animals, made by Dra. Wren 

 and Boyd, that led to the transfusion of blood ; for shortly after 

 those experiments, a Frenchman transfused the blood of a human 

 subject into the veins of another, and it is recorded that several 

 lives have in this way been saved. 



In the course of transfusing the blood of one animal into that 

 of another, it was discovered that what are termed the globules 

 of the blood were uniform in all animals of the same species, and 

 yet presented different forms in animals of different tribes. In 

 man, the particles of blood presented flat disks, resembling pieces 

 of money, having a slight depression. In birds, reptiles, and 

 fishes the disks were oval, instead of being round, and instead of 

 being depressed in the centre, they were elevated on each side. 

 From this experiment it was argued that the fitness of the blood 

 of one animal to the uses of another of a -different species de- 

 pended on the formation of its globules. Experiments have 

 frequently been made to test the truth of this theory, and it has 

 been found to be correct. An eminent physiologist has remarked 

 that, " in order to arrive at an explanation of what is obscure in 

 man, we must look to the lowest and simplest forms of creation. 

 For though in man is combined, in a wonderful and unequalled 

 manner, all the functions which separately exhibit themselves in 

 various other animals, he is not the most favorable subject for 

 observing their action ; hence we are obliged to refer to a num- 

 ber of other tribes for the assistance we gain in the study of their 

 comparative structures. There is not a single species of animal 

 that does not present us with a set of facts which we should never 

 learn but by observing them in such species, and many of the 

 facts ascertained by the observation of the simplest and most 

 common animals." 



Yet in view of all these discoveries, and the consequent 

 increase of knowledge, there is yet much to learn. Instead of 

 being at the summit of the temple of science, we have only just 

 surmounted some of the obstacles that surround its base ; and ere 

 long, phenomena of the most surprising nature yet remain to be 

 discovered, and fresh laurels are to be won by the industrious 



