PREFACE. 



earth with germs for fructification, which, in the day of the har- 

 vest thereof, might be gathered and garnered ior the benefit of 

 man and the inferior orders of creation. 



And long ere the woodman's ax ceases to vibrate its clear 

 stroke-notes in the ears of the new settlers, a giant enterprise Ig 

 in contemplation. Space and distance must be comparatively an- 

 nihilated ; the iron horse, with his lungs of steel and breath of 

 steam, must have his highway and byway, and the result is, the 

 choice spirits of progression have been earnestly engaged in dot- 

 ting a vast surface of United States Territory with a magnificent 

 net-work of railway and telegraphic wire ; and various other en- 

 terjirises, with which the reader is familiar, have so occupied the 

 American mind, that the Science of Life, as it applies to animals, 

 has been almost at a stand-still. 



In the prosecution of these objects, so essential as they ha\'e 

 proved in .the economy of an infant republic, it is not surpri.'i- 

 ing that our science should fail to receive attention, and that 

 America should be in the rear of the veterinary squadrons of 

 the Old World ; yet, notwithstanding this seeming indifference!, 

 veterinary science does, in some parts of this country, occupy as 

 high a platform as that which obtained in England, about seventy 

 years ago, when the Apostle of Mercy, St. Bel, first landed oia 

 British soil. 



The science which we here advocate is as valuable and chari- 

 table to nature's menials, for the purpose of ministering to their 

 physical wants, relieving their aches and pains, and of prolong- 

 ing their lives, as that practiced on the more noble of created lift^; 

 and, at the present day, testimony can be produced going to show 

 that among us can be found " good Samaritans " who are always 

 ready to minister to the wants of the inferior orders of creation— 

 a work as acceptable to the God of Nature, and as creditable tc 

 manhood, as when the welfare of one of us is concerned. And 

 should we estimate the science in exact ratio to the value and use- 

 fulness of the legion host of domestic animals that have been 

 reared in this country, and those which, without regard to cost, 

 have been imported, to whose welfare it directly contributes, the 

 reader will readily perceive that it is entitled to the consideration 

 and support of a nation of husbandmen. 



It must be borne in mind that a knowledge of the principles 

 of veterinary medicine can not be acquired without diligent study. 



