INTRODl'CTION. XI 



before the reader it will be quite clear that to select a drug for a 

 case of disease or illness requires close observation, especially 

 among the lower animals who cannot give expression to their feel- 

 ings by word of mouth; at the same time anyone constantly among 

 animals, who is endowed with quick perception, can soon learn 

 much from the dumb show often most intelligently displayed by 

 these creatures that shall lead to quite as correct an estimate of 

 their sensations as can be learned from the higher order of creation 

 who by word of mouth not infrequently mislead by incorrect or 

 wilfully untrue statements. It will now be seen that the homoeo- 

 pathic law, " Likes may be cured by likes,'' has a scientific founda- 

 tion, inasmuch as it furnishes a means for and a guide in the 

 choice of a medicine, and for this reason alone it should commend 

 itself to every man of ordinary intelligence. There is no diffi- 

 culty in finding suitable remedies, inasmuch as Hahnemann and a 

 considerable number of his followers in more recent times have 

 tested the action of a very large proportion of the drugs now in- 

 cluded in the pharmacopoeia upon themselves when in health, and 

 these have been recorded in various books which are now kept for 

 reference; of necessity the study calls for a retentive memory 

 backed up by indomitable perseverance before an3-thing like an 

 adequate understanding of the subject can be arrived at; but to 

 render the present work of practical use to the horse owner who 

 desires to treat his own animals a summary of the principal symp- 

 toms in many of the more common ailments will be prepared, so 

 that reference may the more readily be made to that portion of the 

 book which deals with diseases under their recognized headings, 

 and the special remedies will be indicated; in this manner it is 

 hoped to compensate the layman for his want of technical knowledge 

 and experience, and in this way assist those who by reason of locality 

 are unable to avail themselves of professional advice. Let us now 

 examine the position arrived at; it is an acknowledged fact among 

 those who content themselves with prescribing drugs as the allo- 

 pathist does, that experience is the sheet anchor on which they 

 rel}'; let us assume that a certain man or a certain animal was the 

 subject of an illness, which the allopathic practioner described in 

 his professional phraseology as ''Pneumonia,'' which in plain 

 language means " infJammation of the lung-s;" a certain course of 

 treatment was adopted in this case and the result, together with 



