300 
THE EDINBURGH VETERINARY COLLEGE. 
General, Abstract. 
Number of Cases, Horses 272 
„ Neat Cattle 22 
„ Dogs.. 31 
( „ Inversion of Uterus 
< in Goat 1 
( „ Sow, Pneumonia ... 1 
Deaths in Horses 
„ Cattle . 
„ Dogs.. 
Goat 
Sow . 
8 
4 
3 
1 
1 
327 17 
Gross number of Cases 327. Died or Destroyed 17. Cured or Relieved 310. 
In forwarding the preceding statement, it may be remarked, that 
although there is nothing very peculiar among the cases, there is a 
sufficient number of such as are useful for the student to witness, 
and which must contribute much to his practical information. It 
is of more importance to the veterinary student to see what is 
really useful, and the ordinary occurrences of practice, than the 
more rare and extraordinary cases, which would be more interest- 
ing to the majority of your readers. 
With respect to the cases of castration, for example, which have 
occurred during the present year, it may be remarked, that in order 
that the student might be made acquainted with the merits of the 
various methods of operating, the operation has been performed by 
caustic clams, by ligature, and by cautery. By adopting this variety, 
the student has had the opportunity of seeing the manner of perform- 
ing, and the comparative merits and disadvantages of each method, 
which to the country practitioner is of much importance, as he is 
frequently called upon to perform the operation, not so much in 
accordance with his own conviction or to the most scientific method 
of doing so, but to satisfy the caprice of his employers, whose pre- 
conceived notions may be decidedly in favour of some peculiar me- 
thod ; and more fully to enable the students to undertake this ope- 
ration, as occasions offered they have been made, under inspection, 
to perform it themselves. 
It may appear somewhat strange to observe that, under the head 
“ Fractures of Bones,” while six cases of horses are mentioned, only 
one death is noticed. A great majority of cases of this class is by 
veterinary surgeons usually considered hopeless, and undoubtedly, 
from certain difficulties which the veterinary surgeon has to en- 
counter in keeping his patient quiet, and the fractured bones in ap- 
position, when compared with Jhe human being under similar cir- 
cumstances, many cases are judiciously destroyed ; yet, on the 
other hand, experience has shewn that the wonderful resources of 
nature, in some apparently desperate cases, may, by proper 
assistance on the part of the veterinary practitioner, be made 
subservient to the restoration of many valuable animals. In 
