ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY 



OF 



THE HORSE 



" In horses or cattle, it is probable that almost all diseases may be prevented by 

 judicious management with regard to feeding, breeding, rearing, and exercise." — 

 Dr. White, V. S. 



"Nature is ever busy, by the silent operation of her own forces, endeavoring to 

 cure disease. Her medicines are air, warmth, food, water, and sleep. Their use is 

 directed by instinct ; and that man is most worthy the name of physician, who most 

 reveres its unerring laws." — Dr. Dixon. 



THE CAUSES OF COMPLAINT, AND THE REASON WHY WE ADVO- 

 CATE A REFORM IN VETERINARY PRACTICE. 



Mr. Youatt writes, that the annual loss of cattle in Eng- 

 land, by disease, amounts to $50,000,000 ! and the loss of 

 sheep at one tenth of the whole number ; and, though there 

 the veterinary art is taught as a science in the endowed col- 

 leges, and regular professors practise it throughout the king- 

 dom, he says it is difficult to say which is the greatest source 

 of this immense loss, " the ignorance and obstinacy of the 

 cow leach, or the ignorance and supineness of the owner." 

 To make this declaration clear and conclusive, we will con- 

 sider the principal reasons why the healing art has never yet 

 derived much, if any, improvement from all the various labors 

 that the faculty have bestowed on it. We wish the reader to 

 understand, that the same reasoning applies to animals,* for 

 they require the same general treatment as mankind, viz., by 

 aiding the vital powers. 



If the remedies are ever adapted to destroy life or injure the 



