270 SPECIMENS OF FIVE MONTHS VET. STUDY, 
“ such gross displays of ignorance should be made known to the 
profession and the world, in order to convince them that some 
alteration at the Veterinary College is absolutely necessary.” 
We are unwilling to give pain to, or injure even, those by whom 
our profession is thus disgraced; and, therefore, we have sup¬ 
pressed the name of our informant, and certain passages which 
would too plainly point out the individual alluded to.— Ed. 
A young veterinarian, a very short time after he began business, 
was sent for to Mr.-, a very sporting character, to see a horse 
which was lame before; and after seeing the animal trotted down 
the yard, he pronounced him lame in the wrong leg. Two days 
afterwards I was sent for, and found the lameness plain enough 
in the other leg;. 
In the course of this last winter he was requested to examine 
a horse with an enlargement upon the back of the hock. He 
pronounced it to be a curb; scarified the enlargement, and or¬ 
dered it to be blistered. Before, however, the blister was applied, 
matter made its appearance from an abscess which had formed 
from a thorn; and in a few days the swelling disappeared. 
About two months ago he was shown an old horse, belonging 
to a gentleman of the highest respectability near this town, 
which, from the history I have heard, has had the navicular dis¬ 
ease for some years. He recommended the operation of unnerv¬ 
ing. The horse was cast, and the operation upon both legs was 
supposed to have been performed ; not in the usual way, by mak¬ 
ing a longitudinal incision immediately over the nerve, but by 
making an oblique incision, of about half an inch, upwards and 
outwards, out of which wound an inch of nerve was to have been 
cut, and which operation only lasted two hours . The horse got 
up still lame. He was ordered to be shod with leather soles, and 
turned into a loose box for three weeks : at the expiration of that 
time he was quite as lame as before the operation was per¬ 
formed. The gentleman thought this very singular, as he was 
led to believe the hoTse was to have been sound immediately, 
and, consequently, sent for Mr. Vet., in order to learn from him 
the reason the horse kept lame, when he replied, that the 
muscles of the arm had not yet come to their proper tone, but 
after a few days’ exercise all would be right. Exercise was ac¬ 
cordingly had recourse to for several days, but to no effect. At 
length the groom told his master he would not take him out of 
the stable any more, for he could not keep him upon his legs. 
The horse was then ordered to be shot. 
