INTRODUCTION 3 



a general idea of the diseases and remedies, so that 

 they may be appHed in time of need, and where a 

 regular veterinary practitioner is not at hand. 



Some of the diseases incidental to horses and cattle 

 are so marked in their character, that a little ex- 

 perience will easily enable a person accustomed to be 

 among those animals, to detect it with facility, and 

 in such cases, medicine may be safely administered, 

 according to the rules we have laid down ; but there 

 are other disorders, whose characters are of a more 

 complicated form, which ought not to be treated by 

 a person uneducated in the veterinary art. In such 

 cases it will always be found safer and cheaper in the 

 end to apply to regular practitioners. 



Although in a certain sense there is some analogy 

 between the diseases of man and animals, yet these 

 are exceedingly different in their specific characters, 

 and consequently in the remedies applied for their 

 cures ; the construction of the stomach, the length of 

 the alimentary canal and small intestines, with other 

 organic distinctions — all combining to render the 

 specific quantity and character of the medicines to 

 differ essentially. 



Nevertheless, it is quite possible to acquire a con- 

 siderable knowledge of all that is known in the 

 veterinary art, by persons in private life ; although 

 considerable study, as may well be supposed, is 

 necessary to attain this degree of knowledge. 



The first thing to be studied is to acquire a know- 

 ledge of the skeleton, then of the muscles, and lastly 

 of the internal organisation. The two first of these 

 are pretty much alike in all our domestic animals, but 

 a very great difference will be found in the internal 

 structure. For the skeleton and muscles, works and 

 good engravings will give a good idea to the be- 



