Similarities Between Horse and Man

Advancement of medicine in both the human and veterinary worlds was often linked, especially in the study of anatomy. One example is the identification of how blood circulates through the body. Over eighty years before William Harvey’s seminal work it was the Spanish farrier Francisco de la Reyna who made mention of the flow of blood through the body. It is not until Harvey that the heart is described as a pump that moves blood, but Reyna is considered a predecessor to this work that changed both human and veterinary medicine.

Libro de albeyteria, Francisco de la Reyna, 1547

The passage "que la sangre anda en torno y ruedo por todod los miembros y venas" (on the left page, starting six rows up from the bottom) discusses the flow of blood. Arteries are mentioned only once as originating in the heart as veins come from the liver. There is no mention of the heart's action as a force-pump.

This copy of the first edition published in 1547 is thought to be unique.

De motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus, William Harvey, 1643

William Harvey was the first to describe in detail how blood is pumped to the brain and through the body by the heart acting as a force-pump. This groundbreaking work is the basis for modern physiology of circulation.

Llave de albeyteria, Domingo Royo, 1734

An illustration of the first transfusion of blood from a dog into a horse.

Anatome animalium, Gerardus Leonardus Blasius, 1681

The first general systematic treatise on comparative anatomy. It contains anatomical illustrations from all branches of the animal kingdom.