(J74 
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THE 
are to be found in one form or another in all hocks, not 
always in the same spot, but sometimes extending from the mar- 
gin of the articulation, sometimes a mere notch, sometimes a 
mere acute margin answering all the purpose ; while in an 
astragalus which I have forwarded to you, it will be seen both as 
a notch and a slight groove ; but, in a large majority of cases, 
being situated in some part of the groove of the astragalus. They 
have asserted, I have denied, and the onus lies with them: when 
they have proved they are right, I shall most willingly acknow- 
ledge I have been wrong; but I shall take no man’s opinion on a 
subject that is capable of proof, until he has supported that 
opinion by proof. 
THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THE CAUTERY 
. AND THE SETON. 
By Mr. W. He nderson, Edinburgh. 
H aving attended with much interest to the discussions in 
your valuable journal on the comparative merits of the actual 
cautery and the seton, and being anxious to promote as far as in 
me lies the advancement of the science of veterinary surgery, I 
send you a few cases illustrative of the subject, together with 
some remarks which my own experience has suggested to me. 
During the early period of my professional studies, I, in com- 
mon with others, had to contend with those difficulties which 
formerly beset the student, in consequence of the want of a 
veterinary school, and the obstinate adherence to certain doc- 
trines which derived all their claims to attention, not from being- 
founded on extensive scientific and practical knowledge, but 
from their being espoused by individuals who had obtained a local 
reputation, in consequence of the length of time during which 
they had practised in a district. Any attempt at improvement 
was at once denounced as a rash and chimerical innovation, and 
reason was silenced by authority. Anxious, however, to obtain 
the necessary information to enable me to judge for myself, I 
entered for two years as pupil to the late Dr. Barclay, one of the 
most accomplished comparative anatomists of the day : and, 
having thus acquired some knowledge of structure and function, 
I proceeded to the London Veterinary College. In this esta- 
blishment, while listening to the truly scientific lectures of 
the professor and sub-professor, and attending to their enlight- 
ened practice, I shook myself clear of those prejudices which in 
