234 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



or they argue, should he grow worse, it is then time enough to 

 talk about doctoring him. This puts us in mind of the story told 

 about the sailor, who, having just left port, was one day overhaul- 

 ing his kit, when out tumbled three or four pairs of stockings, 

 having small holes in each heel. His shipmates, knowing him to 

 be a married man, let off a few jokes at his wife's expense, for 

 not mending them. In order to excuse the wife's seeming neg- 

 ligence, he stated that she informed him just before he sailed, 

 that " the holes were too small to require darning, and not large 

 enough for a patch ; and that next voyage she would see to them." 

 She did not believe in the doctrine that " a stitch in time saves 

 nine ; " nor does the horseman who waits until the horse becomes 

 lamer. And in the event of increased lameness, it is not always 

 that science is consulted, even at this stage; for there are 

 always enough men to be found, who consider "that any body can 

 doctor a horse" more especially a lame one ; and who are ever 

 ready to offer an opinion as to the seat of the lameness, (very fre- 

 quently an erroneous one,) for we often see their prescriptions 

 applied to the whirl bone, as they call it, when the lameness is 

 evidently in the hock. The same mistake occurs when a part of 

 the forward limb is affected. It would be quite amusing to notice 

 some of the remedies, from new rum and wormwood down to a 

 hot shovel, that are in such repute among these amateur savans ; 

 but the cause of science would not be benefited by it. We feel 

 thankful, however, that this practice of doing worse than nothing 

 is fast dying out, and that more sensible horse owners begin to 

 realize that it requires just the same skill to manage the diseases 

 of a horse as it does for those occurring on the owner. The very 

 moment a horse becomes lame, he should be excused from duty, 

 because, if it should be of a trivial nature, rest may perform a 

 cure. Indeed, rest, in the early stage of any sort of lameness, is 

 beneficial, because it lessens whatever inflammation may be 

 about the part, which, if it should exist, work would only aggra- 

 vate. If, on examination, the owner cannot discover the cause 

 and seat of lameness, he had better not trust to his neighbor's 

 opinion, but consult some one skilled in the anatomy of the horse ; 

 and although it may cost him a dollar or two, it will be the cheap- 

 est in the end. Prompt aid in the primary stage of any lame- 



