PEEFACE. YII. 



tion does it bear to the hygienic treatment of horses, and to 

 the practice of veterinary medicine ? A correct answer to the 

 latter question is of immense importance to the public. 



The answer to the first question is to be found in the 

 improved breed of the animal ; in the different uses to which 

 horses are made subservient ; and in the very different hygienic 

 conditions under which they are placed from what they were 

 fifty, forty, or even twenty years ago. 



In answering the second question, it may simply be 

 remarked, that the altered character of equine disease (a 

 change which is acknowledged on all hands by the elder mem- 

 bers of the profession) necessarily involves an entire change in 

 the practice of the veterinary art ; it calls forcibly for a higher 

 degree of education in the veterinary surgeon ; it requires him 

 to possess a deeper knowledge of the allied sciences of medi- 

 cine — viz. : Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry, Botany, and 

 Therapeutics ; to possess a greater skill in diagnosis ; and to 

 know the exact value of medicine in, and its relation to, every 

 form of disease which may present itself. 



The book contains certain peculiarities, attention to which, 

 it is hoped, will prove of advantage to the reader. 



1st. Of the several diseases treated upon, I have not only 

 fully detailed the common symptoms and general characters of 

 each, but I have also carefully noted those which are strictly 

 pathognomonic of the malady ; these are described in separate 

 paragraphs, and printed in italics. The practical value of this 



