XXXI. 



and blacking them himself, and cutting his own cloth, as he would of 

 doctoring either himself, or his horse, or his dog, or his cow, when seriously 

 diseased, or of allowing his man-servant to do so. Moreover, the test of 

 experience will show that he who selects the best procurable professional 

 advice will be the pound-wise man, while the other will be the penny-wise 

 one. Sometimes, of course, it may be found impracticable to procure the 

 services of a good practitioner ; and then a useful handbook is almost 

 indispensible to the large owner of stock. It is needless to add that all the 

 general conditions of hygiene and management should be well understood 

 by all those who undertake the care of animals of whatever kind. 



Let it not be thought that we ignore or undervalue the only real 

 knowledge, that gained by the actual and practical observation of facts. So 

 far from doing so, we would most earnestly recommend that every man 

 should mainly aim at the acquisition of precise and real scientific culture. 

 There is, however, a very great distinction to be drawn between true 

 practical power, and that which often among the populace passes as such. 

 No knowledge can be complete which ignores many of the conditions of a 

 problem. In the case of living beings, a lifetime's education is not too much 

 to be spent in the acquisition of the knowledge of their extraordinarily varied 

 phenomena in health and disease. The nervous, muscular, vascular, 

 circulatory, respiratory, digestive and sketetal mechanisms, are each most 

 elaborately constructed. Scientists are just beginning to understand a 1 

 these things. The amount of knowledge however which we possess, grows 

 daily. Every year brings forth its startling discoveries of the phenomena 

 presented by living things. Every year, new drugs and new curative and 

 preventive appliances are being discovered. Every year alters to some 

 extent our views of disease. The man who is now marching with the times, 

 may find himself in two or three years sadly lagging behind in the rear, and yet 

 much of this knowledge is condemned by the unskilled as theoretical. Could 

 anything be more palpably absurd ? 



In this connection, it may be remarked that the veterinary profession is 

 not always without blame. The value of the scientific and theoretical 

 knowledge, which must be gained at one of the veterinary colleges, it would 

 be impossible to over-estimate. At the same time it must be remembered 

 that the number of patients at any given college is not very large. A student 

 can, therefore, scarcely be said to have completed his education, unless he 

 has had a considerable amount of actual practice. This may be done, and is 

 very generally effected, before entering at a college, by becoming pupil to a 

 veterinary surgeon in large practice, for at least a year. 



We have spoken of some popular errors. Now let us also consider some 

 ancient customs of treating disease in animals. The peculiar and superstitious 

 notions still prevalent, chiefly among the rural populace, regarding disease 

 and its treatment are very marvellous. Some have a very ancient origin, 

 while others are of more recent growth. Many are grotesque in the extreme, 

 • and some very harmful. The erroneous views of the public on veterinary 

 matters are a source of much harm. Error is pregnant with evil fruit. Now, 



