THE PRESENT CONDITION OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 469 
History , 8$c. — The animal is of a bay colour; of the heavy 
draught breed ; six years of age ; and stands seventeen hands 
or near upon it in height. About half an hour ago the animal 
was seized with a violent attack of colic ; and I was imme- 
diately summoned to attend. 
Symptoms , 8$c. 
1. Pulse 40, full and strong. 
2. Respirations 14 per minute. 
3. When the animal is made to stand upon his feet, he im- 
mediately begins to paw the ground violently. 
4. He throws himself down — rolls over and strikes out 
violently with all the extremities. 
5. He will lie quiet for a few moments and look significantly 
at his side. 
6. Occasionally he voids small quantities of dung in round 
masses resembling wax balls. 
7. The abdomen is tense and hard, as though inflated with 
wind. 
To have nux vomica 2 T °, aquae §iij. 
In fifteen minutes after giving the medicine, the animal was 
perfectly free from pain ; and in half an hour afterwards he was 
put to work as though nothing had ever occurred to him ; and 
he has remained well from that time to the present. 
THE PRESENT CONDITION OF VETERINARY MEDICINE 
IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. 
We approach this subject without any misgiving, conscious 
we are dealing with a profession which owes nothing to mystery, 
and has no consideration for the fancies of its patients : we see 
no possibility of running counter to existing prejudices, while 
the knowledge that there is room for inquiry impels us to use 
our influence in the cause of truth : as consistent advocates of 
the interests of agriculture, we feel bound to attempt the re- 
moval of the mass of misconception and error that obscures the 
subject that we propose to treat. 
The science of veterinary medicine, comprehending, as it 
does, the medicinal treatment of all our domesticated animals, 
must stand high in importance as intimately blended with agri- 
cultural interest ; but yet how lowly are its merits estimated — 
how charily its claims acknowledged — how is incipient disease 
VOL. XXIV. 3 s 
