98 THE HORSE AND ITS DISEASES. 



various proportions, occasions some considerable pheno- 

 mena in health and disease ; their elastic power appears 

 in different proportions, in different horses, as in different 

 men, from which arises phenomena in the different con- 

 stitutions of individuals of each species, giving some a 

 greater disposition to inflammation, which is called a 

 sanguineous temperament. 



Our knowledge of the termination of these vessels is 

 very confined; we can readily see they frequently termi- 

 nate by anastamosis, or the uniting of one branch into 

 another, whereby the blood has its course in some measure 

 altered. We know also, that they terminate in veins, 

 because we can empty the arteries by drawing the blood 

 from the venal trunks, and because injections forced into 

 the arteries in many instances, enter the veins, they 

 likewise terminate on secreting surfaces, in which the 

 contents of the artery become changed, and the part of 

 the blood having undergone fresh combinations, is 

 poured forth in a new form, and the remainder returned 

 by the venal branches. 



From various circumstances we are aware, that the 

 arteries in the living animal are always full ; we see it 

 by the microscope, and we know that the new column 

 of blood can be but small, in proportion to the contents 

 of the whole arteries ; yet it is sufficient to dilate them, 

 and to cause their consequent reaction. As the velocity 

 of the motions of the blood in some measure decreases, 

 as the distance becomes greater from the heart, from the 

 anterior wave moving slower than the posterior ; and, 

 as the force of the heart decreases, and that of the 

 arteries strengthens, the further they are removed from 

 it, so at least the column is pressed on by one regular 

 force ; thus in every artery they are divided — there is 

 a regular stream with scarcely any jet ; this however, 

 only takes place in the minutest arteries. We thus see 

 why there is no pulsation in the veins — they receive the 

 blood from the arteries in one equable stream and continue 

 it by the last impulsive force of the heart, and the 

 new one of the arteries. 



