THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



501 



Williams* opinion that the sheep I3 beyond the 

 aid oi" veterinary art. Mr. Jekyll can only say — 

 "As a cure I have tried the internal exhibition of 

 small doses of turjientiiic with cold gruel, but without 

 success. I have also made them inluik' chlorine gas; 

 and the few on which I experimented recovered, but it 

 was late in the season, and I think it likely they would 

 Lave recovered without this. I intend, however, to 

 make a further trial of this remedy; bnt while a ready 

 means of cure is of importance to us, the canse and 

 a preventive are of much greater. The history and 

 stages through which these pests pass, and how they 

 enter animal bodies, would very much aid us ; but 

 I fear all this is wrap|)ed in a shroud of mystery so deep 

 that science must labour long and perseveringly before 

 she can bring forth the naked facts for the benefit of man.'" 

 Mr. Marshall himself regretted that no one had given 

 them the result of a post mortem examination of any of 

 the lambs that had died in Berkshire, or the West of 

 England ; and Mr. Williams, despite his previous de- 

 claration, thought that if some dead lambs — say five or 

 six from different farms — were sent to the Veterinary 

 Professor of the Koyal ^'.gricultural Society for exami- 

 nation, he would with great pleasure do what was re- 

 quired. Mr. Corbet, the Secretary of the Club, said 

 that tlie Professor had asked for -^ueh animals over and 

 over again. 



Let us now see what the Veterinary College ha? to 

 say for itself. The week following the customary 

 annual report from this Institution was read at the 

 weekly Council Meeting of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society. It will be found in another part of our paper 

 of to-day. Parts of it would seem to liavc 

 been written almost in- direct answer to 

 what occurred at the Club. As for example ; — 

 " From circumstances which would appear to be 

 irremediable, few cattle are admitted as patients at the 

 college. It is a matter of regret to the Governors that 

 no measure which has been tried by them in conjunc- 

 tion with the Society has availed to bring to the Col- 

 lege Infirmary a sufficient number of oxen, sheep, or 

 pigs when the subjects of disease. Even the merely 

 nominal scale of charges which was adopted a few years 

 since for medical attendance, operations, keep, &c., of 

 such animals, has failed in effecting this most desirable 

 object; and the Governors are at a loss to know what 

 more can be done to remove the apathy which exists 

 in the agricultural body with reference to this im- 

 portant means of imparting practical information to 

 the pupils." The Veterinary College has at any rate 

 little doubt as to who is to blame for that want of inter- 

 communication of which we complain. 



Then, again, another clause in the report is equally 

 well put, and asdirectly or more applicable to the wants 

 of the farmer : " The visits into the country by the 

 Veterinary Inspector, on the authority of the Council, 

 have not been very numerous this year, and the Go- 

 vernors would be glad to see that the arrangement 

 which has been made with regard to the inspection of 

 diseased cattle on the premises of agriculturists was 

 likewise in more general use, for they believe much good 



would result therefrom, not only in arresting the pro- 

 gress of disease, but in investigating the causes, with a 

 view to their removal, on which it was found to de] end." 



Would it not have been better that a post mor'em 

 examination of a few of Mr. Marshall's lambs had been 

 made under the autliority of the Veterinary College? 

 Or, that Mr. Simonds had been called in, to confer 

 with Mr. Jikyll as to the nature of the disease? Might 

 not Mr. King- ask the College, quite as appropriately as 

 the Club, " How he ou^ht to treat his lambs ?" Surely 

 it is hero that Practice should call in the aid of Science, 

 in place of being simply content with changing to 

 wheat or after-grass, and still being "a great sufferer." 

 Ought we to rest satisfied, in this age, with discovering 

 worms in the lungs of our sheep, but " how they got 

 there we had never been able to find out?" The ques- 

 tion, however, concerns alike the followers of either 

 pursuit. A veterinary surgeon, of eminence in his 

 district, admits that the disease has so far baffled his 

 researches ; while some of the sufferers speak of it 

 as beyond the power of his art. Has this 

 as yet been fairly or fully tested ? The profession, in 

 any case, should look to it. They report that they have 

 now sent out more qualified students than in any pre- 

 vious year. Have these young gentlemen had the 

 opportunity of studying consumption in sheep ? If 

 not, if Mr, Marshall, or Mr. King, or Mr. Paull will 

 not SPud up their lambs, let the College send for them. 

 Or, let Mr. Simonds pay either of these gentlemen 

 a visit. We will answer for his reception. If there be 

 " apathy" on the one side, there must be none on the 

 other. 



In some quarters, at any rate, the value and want 

 of the V(.teiinary Art in connection with Agricul- 

 ture is coming to be properly appreciated. At the 

 late Show of the Dublin Society, one of the best 

 points in the different addresses delivered is to 

 be found in the speech of a practical agri- 

 culturist. Lord Talbot de Malahide : — " He thought 

 it of the utmost importance that further atten- 

 tion should be given to veterinary science. He believed 

 that one of the objects which the Highland Society had 

 in view was the consideration of that subject; and of all 

 the societies that he knew, he knew of none that could 

 take that subject up with greater advantage than the 

 Royal Dublin Society. But if it were to be done, it 

 should be done effectually ; it should not be done by 

 having a few lectures, but by having a veterinary hos- 

 pital ; and it would be necessary to teach the science 

 practically not only to those who were to be professors, 

 but almost an equally important matter would be to 

 have an inferior class in attendance, such as they found 

 for nurses in hospitals, and a regular course of instruc- 

 tion should be given to those " nurses" over the wel- 

 fare of the animal creation. He considered this subject 

 one of national importance, and worthy the attention 

 oi" every person who bad the welfare of the country at 

 heart." 



Even here, in England, we may yet echo his Lord- 

 ship, and impress upon our agi-iculturists the impor- 

 tance of paying more attention to Veterinary Science. 



