64 Among Men and Horses. 



shopkeepers, were wont to exclaim when the inadequacy of 

 such a payment was pointed out to them : ' If the fees are 

 raised, how can the sons of poor men get into the profession ? ' 

 as if the profession was to be maintained solely for the 

 benefit of the male offspring of indigent parents ! On the 

 contrary, the determination of the fees should solely depend 

 on the amount requisite for obtaining adequate instruction. 

 This view is now in the ascendant, and I may safely say that 

 in the near future, veterinary surgeons will have just reason 

 to consider that they belong to a learned profession. 



In veterinary literature, Professor Williams is a worthy 

 successor of Professor Percivall, who, not alone understood 

 his subject from a scientific point of view, but was able to 

 write correct and elegant English. Professor Williams, as a 

 veterinary author, is unrivalled in the description of 'symp- 

 toms.' He, like a true artist, puts down only what he sees, 

 and consequently the pages of his books are full of local 

 colour, without a trace of that fatal gift of imagination which 

 has made other horse and cattle pathologists spoil good pens, 

 ink and paper in writing about non-existent diseases. To 

 know him is indeed a liberal veterinary education. Con- 

 trary to the dishonest system of running up a bill or of 

 doing ' something ' to conceal one's ignorance of the true 

 state of affairs, Professor Williams advised his pupils in all 

 cases of doubt to adopt an expectant policy ; to reserve their 

 opinion ; to put great trust in nursing ; to give ' stimulants ' 

 only as long as the beer or whisky improved the patient's 

 appetite ; to be chary in administering medicine unless its 

 employment was clearly indicated ; and, if doing nothing- 

 acted well, to continue the treatment. I need hardly say that 

 these admirable rules are as applicable to human beings as 

 they are to horses. Professor Williams is a cheery com- 

 panion, full of anecdote, and (as he has always told me) 

 an enthusiastic salmon fisher. My old friend, Colonel ' Joe ' 

 Anderson, who sometimes accompanied Professor Williams 

 with a long rod and a pocket-book of flies on his trips to the 



