DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT i8i 



It is chiefly because the professional can diagnose 

 correctly as a rule, and the amateur is not quite 

 sure, or has not the courage of his own con- 

 victions, that vets who know their work will 

 continue to make a fair living, whilst amateur 

 vets are somewhat reluctant — and even mean — - 

 as regards sending for somebody " who knows 

 more than themselves " — to use an expression of 

 sensible owners of valuable horses, who un- 

 grudgingly send for a first-rate vet — realising 

 that the money was well earned and good services 

 were appreciated by a clever amateur. Why 

 should any one feel ashamed of admitting that his 

 knowledge is inferior to the knowledge of a long 

 experienced M.R.C.V.S. 



Recollect that you may fluke a few right diag- 

 noses, but unless you have a practical knowledge of 

 your subject — which only comes through constant 

 practice, and cannot be gained entirely from 

 books — you will kill or injure more patients 

 than you are likely to cure. Never send for a 

 vet when it is too late for him to be able to help 

 you out of a dilemma. You may be even dis- 

 posed to hide from him your ignorant mode of 

 treatment, especially when he courteously, yet 

 quite confidently, pronounces an opinion different 

 to your original one. 



Suppose a patient really had an early form of 

 influenza, and you had imagined that you were 

 treating a horse with stoppage, what would be 

 the result ? Perhaps you would have given a 

 strong physic-ball, which would soon weaken a 

 patient to such an extent that, when in despair 



