246 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



been attempted, in comparison to the greatness of the work to do ; 

 and if any one doubts its truth, let him point out the publications 

 that exist to disprove it. In all of them, that the author has seen, 

 the desci'iptions of diseases are too pal^jably Eng-lish to be applica- 

 ble to American circumstances ; while the modes of treatment pre- 

 scribed, wherever originality has been attempted, are too Ameri- 

 can to be of use in any but the slightest cases, or those that would 

 do better if left by themselves. 



By thus pointing out the poverty of the information furnished by 

 the American press, on the subjects in question, the author does 

 not Avish it to be inferred, that he considers the present volume 

 equivalent to filling up the void iiidicated. To do so satisfactorily, 

 many subordinate inquiries will first have to be made and replied 

 to. Known diseases will have to be investigated, and new ones 

 peculiar to the country, identified and examined. Symptoms will 

 have to be noted, terminations compared, and the action of reme- 

 dies experimented on and established. Lameness, also, with its 

 different situations, natures and causes will have to be reviewed, 

 and even anatomical action and conformation verified, before a com- 

 plete body of veterinar}' science, such as England possesses, and 

 suitable to American circumstances, can be collated and put 

 together. But this must be the work of many well trainei minds, 

 through a long succession of years, and in every variety of circum- 

 stances ; and can only be effected when the country is able to 

 educate veterinary surgeons for its own wants, the same as it does 

 the members of the other professions. • 



The present work, therefore, has no such ambitious aim as that 

 above alluded to ; neither, as already mentioned, does it pretend to 

 novelty in the pathological facts or ideas it contains ; these being- 

 only such as have long stood the test of trial and experience in 

 other times and countries. All that the author claims for it is, that 

 he has adapted the veterinary science of Europe, as taught by the 

 ablest British authorities, to the circumstances of the horse, as he 

 has found them in America, so far as his observation has yet 

 extended ; and ofiers that adaptation as a means towards improv- 

 ing the general management of the animal, and a guide for his 

 better treatment when attacked by disease, lameness or accident ; 

 that may be of use to those who have not the first princiiiles or 

 practical application of the science themselves, nor professiojial 

 aid within their reach. His object, in s]n)rt, has been to furnish a 

 book for the !<table, the /arm and the road, that so far as it goes, 

 shall be found true both to nature and science, (which is nidy expe- 

 rience arranged and systematized,) and at the same time so simple 

 and concise as to be plain to the ordinary class of horse owners. 



In carrA-ing out this object, he has been guided in the way of 

 doing it by the same common sense principles, that makes a trav- 

 eler throw a stepping stone into the middle of a stream, when he 

 finds it cannot otherwise be conveniently crossed. Science having 

 heretofore, been but little recogni/ed in this country, in regard to 

 horse-matters, to liave introduced it at once in a technical or 

 abstruse form would have been much the same to the general reader 



