4 INTRODUCTION 



incurable in animals, because in the treatment of animals the 

 external conditions necessary to healing are not obtainable in the 

 same degree as in the treatment of man. For instance, many bone 

 fractures in horses and cattle are incurable because a fixation dress- 

 ing cannot be applied to the part affected. Some operations can 

 not be performed on large animals because of the difficulty of main- 

 taining asepsis. Furthermore, the task of the veterinarian is 

 essentially different from that of the physician. Frequently, the 

 purpose of veterinary therapeutics is not the healing of disease, 

 but to make the animal serviceable. A horse with an ampu- 

 tated leg is, indeed, healed, but is not serviceable. Neurectomy, 

 on the other hand, does not heal ring bone or spavin, but it 

 makes the horse again serviceable. Even economical considera- 

 tions (value of the animal, time required for treatment) often 

 govern the veterinary therapeutist. 



Remedies and Medicines. — The remedies which may be used 

 in the treatment of disease are numerous and various. The term 

 remedy does not signify the same thing as medicine or drug; the 

 latter is only a special form of the former. There is not always, 

 as is frequently incorrectly assumed by the laity, a sharp contrast 

 between medical and drugless treatment (so-called natural method). 

 On the contrary, the same therapeutic effect produced by drugs 

 may frequently be obtained from other, non-medical remedies, — 

 e.g., through mechanical methods. In general, dietetic, chemical 

 (medicines), mechanical (massage, hydrotherapy), thermic (heat, 

 cold), electrical (electrotherapy), and operative measures are to be 

 considered as therapeutic remedies. Also of importance as healing 

 factors are rest, movement, and exercise. Disinfection, inocula- 

 tion, and sanitary police regulations are of especial value in com- 

 bating infectious diseases. 



If, after the use of this or that therapeutic measure, the disease 

 is cured, this is not in itself proof that the treatment applied was the 

 cause of the cure. Post hoc is not propter hoc. On the contrary, 

 every recovery should be considered candidly and objectively to 

 determine what share in the cure is to be credited to the healing 

 powers of nature and what part was played by the therapeutic 



