iv Preface. 



tion as will enable him to dispense with the unprofitable 

 and perilous services of such pretenders, and to apply 

 rational means of cure when he happens to be beyond the 

 reach of the accomplished veterinarian, is the aim of this 

 book, and this it is confidently hoped it wdU accompHsli 

 for aU who wiU inteUigently study its pages. 



To secure this object and yet to place the book within 

 the reach of aU, it was necessary to sacrifice aU extended 

 discussion of diseased processes, and questions in pathol- 

 ogy, and therefore the reader who may discover deviations 

 from current opinions is requested to suspend his decision 

 until he has consulted the Author's larger work, in which 

 the reasons for these positions will be given. 



With this view of stiU further condensing the work, the 

 doses of medicines for the different animals are rarely 

 given in the text, but one or more agents are named as ap- 

 plicable to every distinct stage or phase of the disease and 

 species of patient, and the reader must turn to the list of 

 drugs given at the end to find the amount required for 

 each animal. In doing this he must note particularly for 

 what purpose the agent is given and select the dose ac- 

 cordingly, as the effect of large doses is usually essentially 

 different from that of small ones. Thus common salt given 

 in large doses to cattle is purgative and reducing, while in 

 smaU ones it is alterative and tonic. Sulphur in largo 

 doses is laxative but in small ones alterative, expectorant 

 and diaphoretic. Oil of turpentine in large doses is 

 purgative, diuretic and vermifuge, in small ones stimulant 

 and antispasmodic. Attention must also be given to the 

 age and size of the patient as more fuUy set forth in the 

 Appendix. 



Illustrations have been freely introduced to render the 

 text more lucid, and, being selected from those prepared 

 for the Author's larger work, may be implicitly relied on. 



