PROFESSOR SPOONER’S ORATION. 
745 
By what, then, should we be guided in the application of a pro- 
tecting agent to the loot? The grand principle must be this, — - 
that while we protect the lower surface of the foot from attrition — 
from injury that might be inflicted upon it by the ground — we at 
the same time allow it to perform its natural functions. We 
cannot, however, entirely accomplish this end : but it is requi- 
site that we should, by investigating the anatomy and physiology 
of the organ, and by a due attention to the laws by which it is 
governed, arrive as near to it as we can. Of course, if we could 
protect the foot, and at the same time allow its elastic move- 
ments to go on with the same freedom and ease as if the shoe 
were not there, no ill effects would be produced. But, hitherto, 
no plan has been discovered by means of which a shoe can be 
placed on the foot without, in some measure, interfering with 
its functions, and, therefore, it is our duty to examine well the 
peculiar form of each horse’s foot brought under our notice, and 
apply such a shoe as is most calculated to enable him to perform 
his progressive functions unfettered, and there prevent the occur- 
rence of numerous diseases, which are too frequently the result 
of the employment of an ignorant artisan in this particular depart- 
ment of the profession. 
Having thus briefly directed your attention to the subjects of 
anatomy and physiology, we are necessarily led to pathology, or 
that division of medical science which treats of disease. 
And what a wide field is here open for our research ! Our 
patients are unable to express by words what they feel : and it 
may be truly said, that, consequent upon this, the veterinary sur- 
geon is required to exercise more minute investigation, and to 
evince more tact and discrimination than the medical man, in 
order to detect the existence and to ascertain the nature of dis- 
ease ; yet, on the other hand, it must also be admitted, that they 
never dissimulate, but by true symptoms, rarely misunderstood 
by the attentive and observant practitioner, point out the seat of 
the malady under which they are labouring. 
I feel, however, that it is unnecessary for me to dwell here. I 
shall be content to leave this subject in abler hands. Professor 
Sewell will deliver the lectures on Pathology and Practical Sur- 
gery, and we shall all hail with pleasure the period when he will 
again be enabled to resume the duties of that exalted station which 
he has so long held in connexion with the advancement of veteri- 
nary medicine. 
There is one division of this part of your studies in reference 
to which, probably, I am the individual by whom your attention 
must be called to it, and that is, veterinary jurisprudence. It is 
a subject which, hitherto, in my humble opinion, has not received 
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