THE EDITOR. 
559 
and that name conveyed the nature, extent, and precise progress 
of the disease, from the first deviation from health to its termina- 
tion in death, then all that any man could obtain by reading 
cases published in The Veterinarian would only be the name 
of a medicine, unless so much of a certain prescribed kind would 
begin and accomplish a cure ; but this is not the case. I am 
called to see a horse : — he has been ill , no matter how long ; symp- 
toms of disease alter with the increased intensity of it, and I 
must take things as I find them (no book can help me), and my 
reputation hangs on the accuracy of my judgment as to the na- 
ture and extent of the disease. A very early question asked is, 
Will my horse live or die? The result at no distant period will 
prove the accuracy or not of the answer given. In nearly the 
same breath comes the next important question, What is amiss 
with my horse? — and as death will sometimes ensue, the worth of 
my judgment is ascertained : and, should I have been in error, the 
mortifying and not very good-tempered observation comes with 
cutting keenness , — u You see, sir, that you did not understand the 
complaint of my horse, therefore you could not treat him pro- 
perly.” 
If I convince my employer that I am aware of what is amiss 
during life, and am not doubtful in my own mind as to the proper 
method of treatment, and hold out no hope, or but faint hope, of 
recovery, and death ensues, then comes the post-mortem exami- 
nation, and on the accuracy of my prognosis depends the estimate 
formed of me as a practitioner. Neither reading nor occasionally 
seeing a case of disease can prepare any man, whatever may be 
his mental ability, for such a position as this ; but it is not the 
only occurrence in which a practitioner feels a need for all the 
knowledge he can obtain bv diligent perseverance to the end 
of life. 
On the other hand, the empiric, or farrier, or the reading doc- 
tor, with the best books on our art in his hand, whether those 
already spoken of, or the “ Horse,” “ Cattle,” &c. proceeding 
from your own pen, is sure to get into a dilemma, the frequency 
of which must be proportioned to the number of ill-fated animals 
that fall into his hands ; and the proprietor, not feeling quite easy 
when the prospect of death stares him in the face, whether himself 
or a farrier is major of the bloodstick, in his alarm sends for a 
veterinary surgeon. This brings science (I mean science made 
available by practice) into collision with ignorance, and, in my 
opinion, gives to the veterinary surgeon all the opportunity he 
ought to wish of holding his proper position in the estimation of 
those who require medical aid for their domesticated animals from 
the horse down to the cat. 
