74 the secretions: [book I. 



begins ; as does, also, our duty of finding out what 

 part of the vast machine has ceased to perform its 

 office properly. For, without this previous infor- 

 mation, no man can possibly know how to apply 

 the remedy in restoring the disordered organ to the 

 proper exercise of its function ; nor can any one 

 hope to arrive at this desirable point of veterinary 

 knowledge, unless he has acquired the means of 

 ascertaining where, when, and in what degree the 

 mischief has taken place, by patiently examining 

 the action of those organs while in health, and com- 

 paring their appearance, after death, with the par- 

 ticular symptoms which preceded that event. 



20. Secretion. — Although, as we say, the se- 

 cretions just spoken of are important in themselves, 

 and of several sorts, as bile or gall by the liver, 

 urine by the kidneys, &c. yet the chief object of 

 our present notice is the secretion of a fluid, more 

 or less watery, which pervades the whole system. 

 It differs in quality a little, and very little any 

 where, being adapted to the nature of the parts 

 requiring its aid: — 1st, In softening and enabling 

 them to move freely over each other (as, between 

 the ends of bones) ; £d, Acting as a defence against 

 injuries from extraneous bodies (as, on the inner 

 coat of the intestines) ; and, 3d, To prevent the 

 parts from growing together ; as the liver to the 

 midriff, &c. Misfortunes these which invariably 

 happen when the supply of this fluid falls short of 

 the requisite quantity for a long while together ; 

 and this is the case whenever the animal is worked 



