PREPAG Ey 
MERICANS rank high in the estimation of the scientific 
world for their genius and industry in the great work of 
intellectual, moral, and scientific improvements. See what has 
occurred in the arts of printing, electrotyping, ete. The eloquence 
of the great literary magicians of the New World, the honored 
graduates of free institutions and free schools, no sooner falls from 
their lips than the phonographist transfers it to paper, the nimble 
fingers of the compositor puts it into “ form ;” next the “ battery ” 
deposits on the face of the type a more durable coating of copper, 
and “ Hoe’s press” sends off “ impressions” with almost magical 
vapidity. No less surprising are the wonderful feats performed 
by American mechanics, in the construction of fast yachts and 
steamers, which often pluck a laurel from the so-called “ Mistress 
of the Sea ;” and old “Uncle John” gives us due credit for per- 
fecting a race of fast trotters that can beat the world of horse- 
flesh. 
Improvements in every department of Science and Art are con- 
stantly treading on the heels of improvement; yet, as regards the 
science of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, America seems almost 
the last among civilized nations to put her shoulder to the wheel. 
What can be the reason? Her youth may be offered as a plea 
for excuses. The daughter of the Old World has not yet, in this 
department, arrived at years of discretion ; she is yet in her teens. 
Her sons have borne the heat and burden of the day in establish- 
ing their liberty, in founding cities, extending commerce, and in 
taming the wild face of soil, by uprooting the giant oak, and in 
clearing away the forest, so that the husbandman, with plow and 
harrow in hand, might follow on, and next impregnate mother 
(iii) 
