PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION, 



ii. j>rtA^J-kii!ng an edition of Youatt to the American public, the 

 Amencan editor may justly say, that, of all the treatises on cattle, 

 none is so valuable as his. Mr. Youatt was a man of rare ability ; 

 a scholar, distinguished for the extent, variety, and elegance of his 

 attainments ; for his power of research, historical, and scientific ; for 

 the brilliancy of his style ; and as a veterinary surgeon of profound 

 knowledge, in both the science and practice of his art, and of devotion 

 to its pursuit. Scarcely any man of all the world was so happily 

 fitted as he, to produce a great historical and medical work on 

 cattle. 



And while he was so peculiarly qualified to write such a work, 

 the circumstances that originated it were eminently the ones to 

 insure him success in the undertaking. An association existed in 

 England, under the name of The Society for the diffusion of 

 USEFUL Knowledge. Men of eminence in every variety of learning 

 were its members ; the publication of practical treatises in all depart- 

 ments of useful knowledge, its object. Appreciating the ability of 

 Mr. Youatt to give the world a valuable work on the history, breeds, 

 management, and diseases of cattle, this Society enlisted him in its 

 production. 



In preparing this treatise for publication, the Arnerican editor has 

 abridged it of the history of local and inferior breeds of cattle in 

 England, in which the American farmer and amateur has no interest. 

 There is not a page in the whole, but has been carefully considered, 

 and, where it required, its matter advanced to the present state of 



