628 
REMARKS ON VARIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS 
qualified for the duties of his office. Among other things to which 
he directed my attention was the treatment of curbs, those tor- 
menting evils in all hunting stables. “ I care nothing for curbs,” 
said he ; I have a recipe that stops them at once, and when the 
season is over I fire, if necessary.” The use of the seton I found 
was never applied, either by him or Lord Segrave’s or Lord More- 
ton’s groom, for strains, &c. ; but he told me of a case of castration, 
of, I should think, very rare occurrence. “ I operated on a yearling 
colt,” said he, “ and only found one testicle. At two years old, I 
extracted another ; and at three, another ! The colt did well*.” 
Mr. Richard Weatherstone (for such is this excellent servant’s 
name, although called “ Dick” by the family and their friends, as 
his father was before him, and who is now living at his ease at 
Badmington) is quite a character in his way ; but having both 
heart and soul in his business, added to nearly twenty years’ expe- 
rience with horses that follow foxhounds, he is no mean authority 
in practical veterinary science. I observed that he is not a friend 
to clipping, not more than three of the stud having been subjected 
to that, in my estimation, unnecessary operationt. 
A word more on roaring. Beside the two studs I have here 
alluded to, instances of horses becoming roarers were given me 
in other parts of the country, and at Melton, where the best of 
winter grooming and summering is practised. Sir James Mus- 
grave had a case which he could not account for, and so had Mr. 
White ; and I also heard of some in the Oakley country — Bedford- 
shire — also difficult to be accounted for. These must be laid to at- 
mospheric agency, shewing the necessity of extraordinary care in 
guarding against it. During a visit to Mr. Lethbridge, in the last- 
named county, in March last, I asked the veterinary surgeon who 
attended his horses if he could account for the prevalence of roaring. 
He said he had reason to believe it was oftentimes produced by the 
trachea being injured by the force employed in administering balls; 
and I am inclined to think that such may occasionally be the case. 
I forget the name of this veterinary surgeon, who lives at Bedford, 
but I found that he was no reader of your Journal. 
Each succeeding year exhibits some improvement or another in 
stable economy. The foot-tub, or pail, is one, and I saw it used 
with the best effect to one of Lord Segrave’s horses that I was 
* Having read an account of a partly ossified substance in the scrotum of 
a horse, in a number of The Veterinarian published since this conver- 
sation took place, I am induced to suppose, that something of this nature 
might have occurred in the Badmington colt. 
f When remarking on the quality of the Badmington hay, Weatherstone 
said, that, unfortunately for him, the steward was of opinion that the best 
hay should be given to the cattle. This is not a solitary instance. 
