PREFACE. 



We believe it may be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that 

 no book has yet been published, in the English or any other language, 

 which even professes to give a complete description of the Natural 

 History, Physiology, Pathology, and General Management of the 

 Horse, in a form and style suited to the country gentleman of the 

 nineteenth century. It is true, that some of these departments are 

 adequately described in separate works ; but they are generally written 

 in technical language, suited rather to the Veterinary Student than 

 for the use and comprehension of the ordinary reader. The writings 

 of Percivall in England, and of Girard, Chauveau, and Colin in 

 France, contain full and accurate details of the Anatomy and Physi- 

 ology of this animal ; while the Structure and Diseases of his Foot 

 have been the subjects of various elaborate treatises by Bracy Clark, 

 Spooner, Coleman, and Turner, in this country. But in order to 

 reach the information which he requires, the reader has to wade 

 through many long and wearisome chapters, wholly irrelevant to the 

 practical subjects in which he is interested, and he therefore gives up 

 the study in disgust as a hopeless task. So, also, in reference to the 

 general diseases of the horse, Percivall's "Ilippopathology" is a mine 

 of information ; but it is so elaborate, and so diffuse in style, that 

 it is consequently never or rarely seen on the library shelves of the 

 private gentleman. Stable management was well described by Stew- 

 art, of Edinburgh, five-and-twenty years ago, and his work still con- 

 tinues to be the best manual on this particular subject; but since it 

 was written many great changes have been introduced into general 

 use, and it is therefore now somewhat behind the times. For these 

 reasons the author of this work has thought that a book, combining 

 all the above subjects, treated in a practical manner, and in a style 

 popularly intelligible, yet containing the most recent views of eminent 

 authorities in veterinary knowledge, would supply a deficiency which 

 has long been complained of by all who are interested in the proper 

 management of the horse. 



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