512 cnAPTER 66. 



the vesicant is applied over half or even the whole of the pastern, and 

 the horse is in consequence ol)liged to be thrown out of work. 



CHAPTER 66. 

 THE PKOGRLSS OP VETEEINARY SCIENCE. 



A TiEf'TIRE HEI.lVRREn TO THE PORTSMOUTH LiTERARY AND 

 SCIEXTIFIC SoriETY, 



1034. In addressing: an unprofessional audience on a professional sub- 

 ject, I shall endeavour to deal only with the general aspect of Veterinary 

 science. If I should be able to excite a general interest in the treatment, 

 the wants, and ailments of the lower creation, perhaps some of my 

 hearers may be induced to follow out the subject to practical results. 



Ther'; are impostors and quacks in the medical profession. There are 

 more, there must be more, impostors and quacks in the veterinary pro- 

 fession l)ecause the suft'erers — those rudely or ignorantly treated — have 

 no means of making knowTi their suffei'ings. Nature has not vouchsafed 

 to them the organ of speech, by means of which th^y could make known 

 their grievances and their sufferings. 



1035. Veterinary Science. 



The progress of civilisation in man has been marked by a greater 

 degi-ee of care for human life, by an increased desire to gain a more 

 accurate knowledge of the laws of health, and especially of late years by 

 what is known as sanitary science. 



The progress of civilisation has also been marked by the gi'eater value 

 which man sets upon those animals Avhich. are needed for his existence, 

 for his use, or for his comfort. In the savage, or semi-savage state of 

 man, animals were simply hunted down or destroyed. In the civilised 

 state of man the welfare of animals useful to man is carefully studied. 

 Their increase in number, in individual value, and in the .perfection of 

 their respective species, as, for example, in the horse, cow, and sheep, are 

 questions of social wealth and of vital importance to the community at 

 large. 



In the increasing value of domesticated animals useful to man, and in 

 the greater ravages of disease, as must be the case where animals, more 

 or less intended to roam at large, are crowded together ; as must be the 

 case where land increases in value, and where also population increases in 

 numbers, and daily requires larger supplies of food ; in the increasing 

 value and need of domestic animals, and in their increasing ailments 

 arising from domestication, modern Veterinary Science has had its rise. 



The Vetei-inarv art, however, was not unknown to the ancients, but, 



