the 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XV, No. 180 .] DECEMBER 1842. [New Series, No. 12. 
THE INTRODUCTORY LECTURE OF PROFESSOR 
SIMONDS ON THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, 
SHEEP, SWINE, AND DOGS. 
Gentlemen, — TO appear before you in the capacity of an in- 
structor, and that, too, in a division of veterinary science hitherto 
occupying but little of the attention of the teachers in this Insti- 
tution, may well excite in my mind .considerable apprehension, 
that all which is anticipated from me may not be realized. I 
have to regret that this division of our art — the pathology of 
cattle, sheep, and other domesticated animals — has been thought 
by some altogether unworthy of the pursuit of the man of educa- 
tion ; but, at the same time, it affords me much pleasure to be 
able to state, that others have expressly devoted their time, and 
laboured to prove that which must now be admitted, namely, the 
great injustice done to the agricultural community, and the im- 
mense loss annually sustained by the country in consequence of 
the veterinary pupil being so little impressed with the import- 
ance of the subject during his scholastic studies. Quacks and 
empirics were encouraged by this strange neglect, while men of 
science and education were prevented from directing their atten- 
tion to the alleviation of the diseases and sufferings of the lower 
animals, save and except that one which, by the possession of great 
powers, endurance, and docility, adds, I am free to confess, more 
to our luxuries and advantages than any other which an all-wise 
and ever-bountiful Providence has, in his inestimable wisdom and 
goodness, thought right to give for the use of man. But, gentle- 
men, noble as is the horse, valuable as are his services, and how- 
ever much individually or nationally we are indebted to him for 
our wealth, our influence, or our importance, these can offer no 
valid reason why the rest of our domesticated animals are not to 
receive our fostering care and protection as well in sickness as 
in health. Whether I succeed or not in placing this branch of 
VOL. XV. 4 X 
