248 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of 
veterinary surgeons instead of collecting together in large- 
towns, would find it convenient to reside in country districts, 
which are now so badly supplied that the farmer, when he 
requires veterinary aid, is often obliged to send a messenger 
several miles, with the risk of finding the veterinary surgeon 
absent, and the certainty of losing time, which in cases of 
serious illness is all important. 
Under the contract system the expense of regular veterinary 
attendance would not be great, and the plan which the Society 
has adopted of appointing veterinary surgeons in certain centres 
might easily be extended, so as to provide sufficient means for 
carrying all the necessary details of the scheme into effect, and, 
under such conditions, it may be presumed that the extensive 
damage which is annually inflicted on the live-stock of the 
country by the ravages of various diseases would be materially 
mitigated. The veterinary expert would be aware of the circum- 
stances under which all the animals in his district were living, 
would recognize the presence of existing and suspect probable 
causes of disease, and take measures to moderate their influence. 
In many, perhaps the majority of cases, he might be able to 
counteract it entirely. Remedies which might be required in 
emergencies would be supplied to the farmer, with proper direc- 
tions for using them, in the absence of the veterinary surgeon ; 
and when he arrived, he would have the manifest advantage of 
knowing exactly what medicines had been given, instead of 
having to guess at the character of some nostrum which the 
stockowner had administered, for no better reason than is 
afforded by the advertisement which announces it to be an in- 
fallible cure for all diseases to which the animals of the farm 
are subject. 
As it is vain to hope that farmers in general will avail them- 
selves of the constant aid of the veterinary surgeon, it may not 
be out of place to offer some advice on the subject of the treat- 
ment of farm stock when veterinary assistance is not within 
reach, or the illness is deemed to be so slight in character as not 
to require any professional skill for its cure. In either case 
it is quite certain that the owner of the animals or his servant 
will do something ; and it is a primary necessity that the 
remedial measures which may be employed shall not be capable 
of adding to the mischief, instead of repairing it. 
One serious obstacle will present itself to the amateur in his 
attempt to select appropriate remedies. Correct interpretation 
of the symptoms which are indicative of a departure from the 
healthy state is often difficult to an experienced observer ; to 
the tyro it is, in many cases, an impossibility ; but some of the 
more common ailments of the animals of the farm are distin- 
guished by signs of such a definite character, that the difficulty 
