Original remarks on the general framing of the horse ... / by B.C.

  • Clark, Bracy, 1771-1860
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Original remarks on the general framing of the horse ... / by B.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ORIGINAL REMARKS ON THE GENERAL FRAMING OF THE HORSE. ILLUSTRATED BY PLATES AND A LARGE SECTIONAL FIGURE. By B. C. Second Edition, London, 1842. Conceiving that a sectional view of the whole horse, if it could be executed, would be a splendid object, and highly instructive for beginners in the veterinary art, and others desirous of a general knowledge of this noble animal, I determined on the trial, and suggested the execution of the drawings to my friend George Kirtland, sen., and with his assistance the section was accomplished by the saw and the knife, and the drawing and engraving of it was made in the year 1808, but more pressing labours on the foot of the horse, and some cross occurrences prevented its being described by me, or published till the year 1813 ; which edition being now this year, 1842, exhausted, I am induced to renew it with some important additional observations. Several remarkable circumstances are displayed to advantage by this novel and I believe hitherto (1808) unattempted mode of viewing the animal, as the beautifully varied line and incurvations of the spine, also the extraordinary bend, and incurvation of the vertebral column beneath the withers, advancing it over the fore extremities and bringing this part almost to the front parts of the neck, instead of proceeding as a natural external view of the animal would lead us to suppose along the upper part of the withers and neck, is well seen; also the vast length of the oesophagus, or gullet, and its passage through the diaphragm into the stomach; also the remarkable and powerful elastic ligaments which are supporting the head and neck; the situation and appearance also of the heart, the lungs, liver, stomach, rectum, womb, and the two masses of the brain, are all familiarly exposed in this way, and being engraved upon a large scale, the parts are very distinctly seen, and afford an interesting view of nearly all the internal organization of this most beneficial slave of mankind. The assemblage of so many beautifully formed parts, and the vast diversity of tints also give to the picture a truly rich and unusual appearance. Bor certain reasons the division of the body was not made exactly through the centre or middle of the spine or back-bone, but rather on one side, which renders the view more useful, and preserves entire the Mediastinum, or middle curtain, which separates or divides the chest longitudinally into two chambers, or equal cavities, and which would have been destroyed by such division.