250 ON VETERINARY MEDICINE 



A pra6i;itioncr fettled in tl:e country, and 

 ambitious of extending the knowledge of hip- 

 piatric phyfiology, befide the theoretic aids 

 above defcribed, need not be at a lofs for fub- 

 jefts for diffeclion ; his habits of life alfo, will 

 neeeffarily bring him pra61ically acquainted 

 with the horfe, in w^iich, to fay the truth, fome 

 of our veterinarians are very defective ; and 

 herein it is, that Mr. Taplin, who is an expe- 

 rienced horfeman, and a firil-rate judge of the 

 ftatiftics of the ftable, has an indubitable advan- 

 tage over mod of his brethren. There is, per- 

 haps, no branch of veterinary praftice of fo ma- 

 terial import, as that wdiich relates to indif- 

 pofitions in the feet, tendons, and ligaments of 

 horfes, and, in that refpeft, mere theory, or even 

 mere furgical pra6lice, will always be, to a cer- 

 tain degree, defeclive. To have thorough fkill 

 in this matter, to judge correclly of the feat of 

 defefts, and to deteft incipient lamenels in horfes, 

 requires, I had almoft faid a fellow feeling, 

 with an experimental knowledge of the motions 

 and habitudes of thofe animals : it is, in truth, 

 neceflary, that a confiderable fpice of the joc- 

 key be blended with the veterinarian. 



To thofe proprietors, whofe inclinations lead 

 them \o do6lor their own horfes, my advice is, 

 that they previoufly lay in a flock of good found 

 theory, from the original authors whom I have 

 already particularized ; and that they confult, 



as 



