xxxviii On Compttvative ^Inatomijf and the 



of cattle, as they are a source of public and private opulence; 

 the means of our subsistence, and the instruments of our 

 convenience and pleasure. This value, 1 repeat, is daily in- 

 creasing, owing to the spirit for improvement now spreading 

 through the United States, and to the high price of some 

 stock, particularly fine woolled sheep, the demand for which 

 even in the case of peace, will rapidly increase, from the 

 mere increase of population. 



2. The veterinary science offers a new and respectable 

 means of employment to its professors. 



It must be obvious, that to the medical practitioner in the 

 country, the knowledge of the diseases of domestic animals 

 will be the means of not only greatly extending the sphere 

 of his utility, but his personal consideration, particularly 

 with respect to the noble animal the horse, which always 

 contributes so largely to our wants, which augments our 

 enjoyments, and preserves our health, and is on many oc- 

 casions an object of particular interest, from the circum- 

 stances of cost and individual merits. Will the young 

 practitioner think that he derogates from his medical dig- 

 nity by performing an act of humanity, and extending the 

 sphere of his usefulness in any way connected with the ex- 

 ercise of his profession, especially in one that has engaged 

 the attention and labour of some of the most eminent men, 

 both of ancient and modern time, in Europe ? — Will he de- 

 I'ive no satisfaction — nay more, will he not add to his medi- 

 cal eclat, or obtain pecuniary recompense, from saving the 

 life of a favourite racer of a sportsman, or the hackney of a 

 ^vealthy invalid ? Will he not think himself well employed 

 in setting the leg of a horse of the hunter breed, so valuable 

 for cavalry, and the carriage, and which, although no longer 

 able in consequence of the accident to shine in the field, may 

 still propagate his valuable race ? 



3. In the United States, an additional necessity for atten- 

 tion to improvement in our knowledge of veterinary medicine 

 arises not only from the fact of our ignorance of the sub- 



