559 
ON STABLE TREATMENT. 
By V. S. 
Knowing that your Journal has a deservedly extensive cir- 
culation, and considering that it may be read even among what 
Mr. St. Clair once designated the strong holds of the farrier and 
cowleech, I beg to offer you a few remarks, intended for the benefit 
as well of the farmer as of the legitimate veterinary surgeon. 
The feed for horses in the farmer’s stable is, frequently, in lieu 
of being nutritive, of a character far from that, and composed of 
peas and bean straw, and other articles of a similar nature, indi- 
gestible, and containing but little nutriment in proportion to their 
bulk ; hence we have a deranged state of the digestive organs ; 
tympanitis is of frequent occurrence, and thick wind generally. 
Hence too, I think, we may derive most if not all of those horses 
commonly termed pot-bellied. 
The farmer adopts the use of this provender on account of the 
supposed economy ; but let me ask him, Does he obtain the 
price for his horses that he might if they were well made and 
sound in wind ? 
Again, I would refer you to the treatment of cattle, in which 
the system of our forefathers is tpo commonly pursued. The 
advance made by those who have studied this branch of the 
veterinary art is disregarded by many who are large holders of 
this kind of stock ; and, although, in the event of disease among 
their horses , they may be induced to consult the regular prac- 
titioner, it is not so should their cattle be the subjects of visita- 
tion. No; here they have recourse to the druggist, or to the 
cowleech, or to some “knowing” man of their neighbourhood ; 
and drenches of heating seeds and spices are poured down the 
poor beast’s throat, as if the way to extinguish a fire were to 
put on more lighted fuel : e. g. for yellows you have cummin 
seeds, aniseeds, fenugreek, &c. ; a dose composed of which, 
in my opinion, resembles currie for the human subject with he- 
patitis. Red herrings for murrain and for scouring in calves are 
among the famous remedies of these sages, who are sure to cure 
their patients, i. e. if they do not kill them. 
The humbug of these men renders it imperative on all the 
members of the profession to press onward in the study of cattle 
medicine ; and I am sure that even a little knowledge of the dis- 
eases and treatment of animals will be better than the shameful 
ignorance that has prevailed — need I say where or why ? 
With best wishes for the advancement of veterinary science, 
l am, &c. 
