224 THE HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 



between the lungs and heart gave him the conception that the air 

 came into the heart ; he compared the lungs to an air-sac, and does 

 not seem to have had any conception of the changes which take 

 place in the blood by their means. His views with reference to 

 digestion, and the changes which the elements of the organism un- 

 dergo, were very crude indeed. His description of the senses, see- 

 ing, hearing, smell, and taste, is surprisingly clear and explicit. 

 He looked upon the muscles as the organs of sensitiveness, and not 

 of movement ; the sinews as motor organs, and the heart as the cen- 

 ter of movement. He made an astonishing number of clever obser- 

 vations with regard to the generation and development of animals, 

 and studied the same in the hen's e^g ; the formation of the heart, 

 brain, and eye, allantois, and chorion ; the duration of gestation in 

 many different species. His observations with reference to the 

 instincts of animals are often surprisingly correct, as well as with 

 regard to the variations in their habits of life. Aristotle also de- 

 scribed quite a number of diseases among animals, and, as the sub- 

 ject is not without instructive interest, I take the liberty of giving 

 a very free translation of them here.* 



" As to the diseases of quadrupeds, swine have three different 

 diseases. One is known as ' bronchos,' and consists in an inflam- 

 mation of the air-tubes and the masticating organs ; it, however, 

 frequently complicates other parts of the porcine organism ; some- 

 times the feet become diseased, and at others the ears. The dis- 

 ease develops rapidly, the swine soon losing their appetite. The 

 herdsmen know of no other treatment than to cut out the diseased 

 part at once. Aside from this, two other diseases occur in swine, 

 both being known by the name of ' kraura.' In one of them we 

 may perceive pain and depression of the head, and in the other 

 diarrhoea is the most frequent phenomenon. This last is reputed 

 to be incurable ; the first is, however, cured by rubbing the snout 

 with wine, as well as washing the interior of the same with that 

 material. In this disease, also, but few recover, as it generally 

 ends fatally in from three to four days. Swine suffer most from 

 ' bronchos ' when the summer is very fruitful and the swine very 

 fat. Mulberries and plenty of warm baths are said to have a 

 beneficial effect ; scarification of the tongue is said also to be re- 

 sorted to. The swine are measly when the flesh of the limbs, 

 neck, and shoulders is soft; in these places the measles must be 

 sought for. The flesh has a sweet taste when it harbors measles, 

 at the same time it is soft and watery. One can easily tell when 



* A. and W., chapters xx, xxii, p. 181. 



