26 COMPENDIUM OF THE VETERINARY ART, 



tovyard the spine, becoming kvger and less 

 numerous in their progress ; at lengtii they 

 terminate in a large tube, which runs along 

 the spine, and is named tiie thoracic duct ; tiiis 

 pours its contents into a large vein near the 

 heart, to which part it is immediiitely after 

 conveyed, and converted into blood. 



The kidneys are two glandular bodies, 

 situate within the loins ; their office is to 

 separate urine from the blood. The urine, 

 thus separated, is conveyed by two tubes 

 of considerable length, termed ureters, into 

 the bladder, which is composed of three coats, 

 like those of the intestine ; and when it has 

 received a sufhcient quantity of urine to sti- 

 niulate its muscular fibres into action, it con- 

 ti'acts upon the urine, and forces it out 

 through the urethra or urinar}^ canal. We 

 have now finished our sketch of the abdomi- 

 nal and thoracic viscera; which has been given 

 with a view to render the description we are 

 a])out to gite of internal diseases more in- 

 telligible to those readers who are unacquainted 

 with anatomy, than it would otherwise have 

 been. 



