VI PREFACE. 



always receive that attention from their owners which the urgency 

 of the case demands. In fact, the good nursing, kind attention, 

 etc., which often proves of so much value in the restoration from 

 sickness of one of our race, is often denied the inferior creature ; 

 and other matters, too numerous to mention at the present time, 

 tend to show the advantages which our brethren of a sister science 

 have over us, and how necessary and important it is that a prac- 

 titioner of our art should be thorough master of his profession, 

 It is a lamentable fact that the great majority of our husband- 

 men have not hitherto realized that the superstructure of veterin- 

 ary science rests on the same intelligent basis as that of human 

 medicine ; but such is really the case. In the language of the la- 

 mented Percivall, we are assured that " whether we prescribe for 

 a man, horse, or any animal, the laws of the animal economy are 

 the same ; all require the same treatment," that is to say, the 

 propositions for restoration are all founded on the same intelligent 

 basis. 



The importance, therefore, of educating men for the profession, 

 and of furnishing reliable works for study, is very evident ; and 

 the necessity is further illustrated in the daily experience of those 

 persons who, as a matter of necessity, are obliged to do the best 

 they can for the sick and dying of their flocks and herds, having 

 no knowledge of those advantages which a thorough course of 

 training affords. Such persons must, necessarily, feel that they are 

 groping in darkness, and when a ray of light does flit across their 

 medical path, it only serves to make them better acquainted with 

 their own want of skill. Persons thus circumstanced, unable to 

 procure the services of a good veterinary surgeon, in consequence 

 of a scarcity of the " genuine material," are often compelled to 

 assume the responsibility and risk of medical attendant ; and, no 

 doubt, they prescribe with good intention and honesty of purpose, 

 but disease and death has the vantage of them, for they know not 

 the modes of pathological warfare, nor are they acquainted with 

 means best calculated to insure a favorable issue; and they will 

 certainly hail, as a great blessing, any and every effort to im- 

 prove our veterinary literature, and thus diffuse knowledge so 

 sadly needed. 



It is well known that prior to the introduction of a rational 

 system of veterinary medicine in the mother country, millions of 

 domestic animals were annually sacrificed at the shrine of igno- 



