DISEASES OP THE OX AND SHEEP. 401 



even approaching to a satisfactory ratiotiale m regard to all 

 those immense and weighty problems connected with our presence 

 here in this comparatively small portion of the boundless universe, 

 and in regard to the conscious existence of each one of us from 

 day to day, and year to year, and its, at first sight, seemingly 

 abrupt cessation or transformation into something higher when 

 death closes the scenes of our troubles and our trials, of our 

 hopes and of our joys. Nor, as a matter of fact, can Science, 

 the potent enchantress of modern as compared with older 

 civilisations, help us very much, except indeed most vaguely, 

 incompletely, and indirectly. 



That the heart has been for a long time recognised as one of the 

 essential and central factors of life, needs but little pointing out, 

 as the idea has been embodied in the poetical and fanciful use 

 of the word in all ages and in all nadons. " He is a heartless 

 monster," " He has lost his heart," '* She is his very heart and 

 soul," are terms of expression which imply that the conception 

 of the heart as one of the chief vital elements is one which is 

 universally believed. This has always been the case in greater 

 or less degree among all peoples. As in the majority of all such 

 conceptions, so in this also there is a great deal of truth ; for we 

 find, after the fullest inquiry, that the circulation of the blood 

 into all the various parts of the body, though itself dependent 

 upon intricate impulses of nerve-force which are very difficult to 

 unravel, and are indeed as yet incapable of a complete explana- 

 tion, is an entirely indispensable necessity for the maintenance 

 of life. 



From the Yorkshire Weekly Post of January 15th, 1887, we 

 extract the following : — 



Shocking Affaib. — A shunter on the Great Western Railway, at Landore, 

 was on Monday cut to pieces between an engine and truck. The sight of his 

 mangled body so shocked the station-master, Mr. Thomas, that he fell 

 t4ead. 



Unfortunately this is no uncommon instance wherein we find 

 that the heart is a most susceptible organ. 

 Very frequently, indeed, we are appalled beyond all measure 

 id bounds to hear of great disasters which have removed large 

 lumbers of human beings in the midst of their busy every-day 

 life, and we are thus most forcibly reminded of the dreadfully 

 mcertain nature of the conditions of our vitality. It may be a 



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