COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY. 339 



sliape of the crown of the lower incisors, especially in the 

 horse. The relative number of teeth in the lower animals, 

 when compared with man, become an interesting problem for 

 the philosophical anatomist. The hog is the only animal 

 now in existence that has a typical set of mammalian teeth 

 'oi forty-four in number. The horse has but forty that are 

 full grown, but those diminutive ones so frequently met with 

 in the upper jaw in front of the grinders, and which are 

 known among the horsemen as " wolf-teeth," are only the 

 representatives of the first premolars of the typical set. 

 They are of no use, nor have they ever been known to do 

 any harm ; and yet farriers, all over the country, are pulling 

 these under the erroneous impression that they are the cause 

 of the periodic opthalmia or even blindness, to which horses 

 are so frequently subject during certain seasons of the year. 

 This practice is not very painful, as there are no nerves in 

 them, and therefore they cannot be the cause of these affec- 

 tions ; but it simply illustrates the ignorance and quackery 

 which exists in the majority of veterinary practice through- 

 out the country. This subject, therefore, becomes an impor- 

 tant one to the farmer ; for there are many tricks and devices 

 resorted to among horse-jockeys to make an old animal ap- 

 pear young again. But I will not longer dwell on this topic, 

 interesting as it is to many of you, for I should occupy too 

 much of your time to do the subject justice on this occasion. 

 The descriptive anatomy of any of the domestic animals 

 will be taught from the fresh subjects in the dissecting-room, 

 and physiology by the way of experiments to illustrate 

 the vital phenomena and the leading facts of the science. 

 But in the line of comparative pathology we shall make spe- 

 cial efforts, and thus endeavor to bring the subject down to 

 the latest advances of the science. This is really one of the 

 most essential branches in veterinary medicine, and should be 

 studied with careful attention on both the living and the dead 

 subject. We shall find it necessary to institute certain exper- 

 imental inquiries, with a view to determine, if possible, the 

 real nature of the virus in pleuro-pneumonia and other con- 

 tagious affections. Little is known on this subject at the 

 present hour, and hence any new work in this direction will 

 be welcomed by men of science throughout the world. 



