THE TREATMENT OF YOUNG, UNBROKEN ANIMALS 227 



at the very beginning. Those cases which are of 

 practically every-day occurrence, and which thereby 

 come to be treated by somewhat ' rule of thumb ' 

 methods, should be the first to receive our attention. A 

 fuller knowledge of their peculiarities would, perhaps, 

 prove the stepping-stone to something greater. 



Do not, immediately a horse begins to roll, call it. 

 ' spasm,' and forthwith administer an antispasmodic, or 

 call it ' pain,' and cover it up with a sedative. Some- 

 thing more than that is required of the modern veterinary 

 surgeon, if he is to enhance the reputation of his pro- 

 fession. Nothing should be thought too small, nothing 

 deemed too insignificant, to aid him in his endeavour for 

 honest advance. No. amount of theoretical knowledge 

 should cause the practitioner (especially, the veterinary 

 practitioner) to neglect the 'apparently trivial' — the 

 habit of clinical observation. Even as in the time of 

 Percivall, the greatest possible facilities for the further- 

 ance of our education are to be found in the sick-box. 

 There is still room for careful research, still the need for 

 much patient recording of cases, and still a large amount 

 of useful knowledge to be acquired concerning the 

 Common Colics of the Horse. 



1 5—2 



