398 
CONTEMPORARY PROGRESS OF VETERINARY 
SCIENCE AND ART. 
By John Gamgee, M.R.C.V.S. 
The recorder of the contemporary progress of our science 
and art — the title which I presume to assume — is self-intel- 
ligible. Yet I must define it more accurately, and expatiate on 
the motives actuating me to undertake such a task. Before 
developing my own views, however, l am bound to acknowledge 
that, for the opportunity of carrying out these long cherished 
projects, I am indebted to the very cordial manner in which 
Professors Morton and Simonds, in their anxiety to confer 
every possible advantage on the profession, have accepted my 
proposal for introducing this department into their Journal. 
My aim in the execution of this plan is to convey, in the 
smallest possible space, the largest possible amount of know- 
ledge calculated to be useful to my professional brethren, 
and which would otherwise be almost, if not completely, lost 
to them. The confusion of languages which is said to have 
arrested the famous work of Babel, is still one of the greatest 
causes in retarding social progress in its multitudinous forms. 
Prejudice pervades the masses of mankind, and every nation, 
continuing more or less careless of the fate of others, lives 
separately, without deriving the benefit which might accrue 
from an impartial appreciation of all, and not a limited part 
of, the works of men. 
Since Vial de St. Bel founded the St. Pancras School, 
veterinary science has progressed in England independently; 
placing the ability displayed in its cultivation in different coun- 
tries on the same footing, it is obvious that veterinary know- 
ledge must have multiplied in proportion to the number of 
men and of nations who have been devoted to it. Yet let any 
of my readers ask themselves how often they have dreamt of 
searching for knowledge from Italy, France, Denmark, Ger- 
many, Russia, or elsewhere ? The only conclusion they can 
draw is, that they are conversant with only a fraction of facts 
bearing on their calling. 
With these ideas I have travelled extensively over the 
continent, ransacked libraries, dissecting rooms, museums, 
and infirmaries, argued with professors and pupils, practical 
men and speculators, that by an examination of all, I might 
acquire personal experience of the actual condition of vete- 
