THE VETERINARY ART IN CHINA. 
229 
tinue his exertions until the noble object in which he is engaged is 
fully accomplished. We can here forget all national jealousy or 
fear: we are only anxious to improve the condition and lengthen 
the existence of our valuable servant and companion in peace and 
in war. 
THE VETERINARY ART IN CHINA. 
A very amusing and instructive book has lately fallen in our 
way, written by John Tradescant Lay, Esq., naturalist in Bee- 
chey’s Expedition, and author of the Voyage of the Himma- 
leh, &c. 
It gives a more interesting and satisfactory account of the moral, 
social, and literary character of the Chinese than we have met 
with in any other author. It unravels the mystery which had 
bewildered every one respecting the wayward and contradictory 
proceedings of the Tartar government, and the wilful and purposed 
absurdity of almost every proceeding. It also throws a pleasing 
light on the character of the Chinese people, for which we were 
not prepared. We have great pleasure in recommending this 
work to the perusal of our readers. 
Mr. Lay, however, is a naturalist and a scientific man, as well as 
a diplomatist. His chapter on agriculture contains some valuable 
observations, and the account of the surgical and medical know- 
ledge of the Chinese will be read with pleasure as well as im- 
provement : but the chapter on the Veterinary Art will be to us 
the most interesting, although not the most instructive portion 
of the work. 
He says that the horses in the southern part of China are 
small, not remarkable for their grace or symmetry, and very ill 
groomed. The animal and its caparisons make a sorry appear- 
ance, and a troop of Chinese cavalry would be a very amusing 
spectacle. Officers in the army are occasionally seen on horse- 
back, but civilians usually prefer the sedan, as it affords a more 
easy and more elegant mode of travelling. 
“ While,” says he, “ I was making some inquiries as to the state 
of various departments of knowledge among the Chinese, I asked 
a native physician if they had any works upon the veterinary art, 
to which he replied in the negative. Upon recollecting himself, he 
said the individual who had charge of the governor’s horses at 
Canton was a friend of his, and was in the possession of something 
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