TRUE POSITION OF VETERINARY SCIENCE 
313 
neglect this fundamental branch and gain but a superficial knowl¬ 
edge of it. But what a grievous error this is. How can you 
expect to know, when a body is out of order, where the difficulty 
lies, if you are not thoroughly familiar with the structure of every 
minute portion of that body ? In the most ponderous and intri¬ 
cate machine, a single particle of dust clogging some obscure and 
seemingly unimportant cogwheel or pinion, might stop its 
action entirely. One part is so intimately connected with 
another, and the harmony of working of the whole depends so 
much upon the integrity of each particular portion, that the most 
minute spring or wheel becomes as important as the largest. Tf 
you owned such a piece of machinery and it suddenly stopped 
working, whom would you send for to start it into motion again ? 
The man who fed the furnaces that gave it the power, or the 
skilled mechanic who was familiar with everv detail of its con- 
struction, and knew exactly where to find the spot in which the 
damage had occurred ? 
But the animal body is a machine of vastly more intricate and 
complex construction than any that was ever invented by a human 
brain. Its springs, its pinions, its wheels, its joints, and its fur¬ 
naces are so delicately constructed, and act in such beautiful 
harmony, that the most insignificant become of weight when its 
action is deranged. And is the living organism any less valuable 
or important than a mere machine made of timber and steel, that 
its construction should be any the less perfectly understood before 
it is tampered with ? 
A general idea of external form is not sufficient, as some seem 
to think. There must be an accurate knowledge of all the details 
which that form contains. One who is satisfied with the former, 
is like a person standing on the outside of some museum that 
contains a wonderful and valuable collection. He admires tin; 
grandeur of the building or the beauty of the architecture, but to 
get a perfect idea of the wonders that it contains, he must go 
inside and examine its contents carefully and individually. 
The study of anatomy is the key to the workshop of the ani¬ 
mal body. The various anatomical structures are the implements 
with which nature works out all her marvelous vital phenomena. 
