PREFACE. V 



and close application. It is only the property of the industrious 

 and devoted student. 



In order to acquire the necessary tact, skill, and experience for 

 the practice of our art, some of the shining lights — the early dis- 

 ciples — have spent the May-day of their existence in sol vino- its 

 problems, and, when near its close, have declared, with a modesty 

 indicative of true genius, that their education was yet incomplete. 



Such testimony goes to show that there is no republican nor 

 royal road to veterinary knowledge. In fact, after a man has 

 perseveringly pursued the routine studies of the most popular col- 

 legiate institutions, he may still be found " wanting." 



Let us contemplate for a moment the superior advantages which 

 human practitioners have over our craftsmen, both as regards 

 their scientific qualifications and the superior means at their com- 

 mand for ascertaining the character, location, and intensity of the 

 various maladies peculiar to the human race. For example, the 

 practitioner of human medicine, if he has been a faithful and in- 

 dustrious student, enters upon the active duties of his profession, 

 having acquired a valuable fund of knowledge of anatomy, phys- 

 iology, pathology, and other necessary branches of study ; and, 

 having disciplined his mind in the regular school, and in that of 

 experience, he is expected to be able to rejoice in the possession of 

 a well-trained mind, which enables him to understand and inter- 

 pret the physiological laws which preserve health and life in the 

 constitution of organized beings ; also to comprehend the why and 

 wherefore of disease; to be able to institute sanitary and other reg- 

 ulations, and to select suitable medicinal preparations, in view of 

 Meeting the various indications of each and every form of disease. 

 And when a man becomes the subject of sickness, and the doctor 

 is called upon to exercise his skill, the latter receives valuable aid, 

 in view of making a correct diagnosis, from the patient and his 

 friends. Each can be questioned, and their responses throw con- 

 siderable light on the history and nature of the malady. Now, 

 as regards the latter advantages, they have no parallel with the 

 men of our craft. Our patients are deprived of the power of 

 speech, and we can only judge of the state of their health, and 

 the nature of their maladies, by signs revealed or elicited through 

 physical exploration. We have other difficulties to encounter of 

 no less magnitude. For example, our patients are often located 

 m situations unfit for a well animal to reside in, and they do not 



