PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 



During ten years' experience in teaching veterinary subjects 

 to agricultural students, certain difficulties have been constantly 

 encountered. Others doing this work have probably had similar 

 experience. There has been the difficulty of imperfect training, 

 or entire lack of previous training, in physiology and other sub- 

 jects which medical men recognize as fundamental. There is 

 always present the difficulty of presenting a technical subject 

 in untechnical language ; difficulty in securing satisfactory illus- 

 trations; and difficulty in giving the kind and character of 

 veterinary work which is generally demanded and conceded as 

 necessary, without giving our students a sort of training which 

 will turn some of them into unqualified practitioners. There 

 has been serious difficulty in covering, without a textbook, a sat- 

 isfactory amount of ground. Many students do not take notes 

 well. 



During this time I have been more and more impressed with 

 the belief that a textbook, wisely illustrated and carefully edited 

 for its legitimate use, would enable me to cover very much more 

 ground within the available time. 



The style of editing that has been adopted was selected with 

 a view to presenting the subject matter to students in a con- 

 spicuous and easily grasped way. This must be our excuse and 

 answer to criticism which the expert printer may legitimately 

 make. 



This work has been written more particularly as a text for 

 veterinary classes in agricultural schools and colleges; but it is 

 hoped that it may prove helpful also to stockmen who are not 

 able to attend our agricultural colleges, but who care to know 

 more of the animal machines with which they are working. I 

 take this occasion to deprecate the blind dosing of stock to which 

 farmers and stockmen are very much inclined. The student 

 should realize the impossibility of writing a prescription that will 



