464 
CRUELTY TO HORSES. 
lows for the best view; execrating the struggles of the agonized 
animal ; and mocking its groans; not one expression of commisera¬ 
tion heard from a considerable proportion of the spectators; not 
one calculation how far a part, at least, of the torture may 
be saved, consistently with the object of the operation; the loud 
laugh and the ribbald joke drowning the voice of the operator; 
or the operator himself, when not too much annoyed by the 
shameless indecency of the scene, pausing in the midst of his 
work, and joining in the laugh. We have sometimes thought 
that if a stranger were present at this unnatural exhibition, he 
would imagine that we were training for purposes of brutality and 
not of humanity; and be very cautious how he entrusted a valuable 
and generous animal to our tender mercies : and sure w r e are, 
that scenes like these are more calculated to train us to become 
butchers than surgeons; and hence, in a great measure, it is that 
so many of our operations are performed in a butcher-like and 
unprofessional manner. We are aware that one of the most im¬ 
portant requisites in a surgeon is perfect self-possession; and that 
the feelings of the patient should, for a moment, merge in the 
important object of the operation ; but this is different from those 
exhibitions in which there is no previous comparison of suffering 
and advantage, and no subsequent commiseration. It cannot be 
denied that circumstances do sometimes attend the operations of 
veterinary surgery which would meet with universal execration in 
the theatre of the human surgeon : the inevitable consequence of 
this on the mind of the young practitioner has not been suffi¬ 
ciently calculated, or, rather, the error has been, that we have 
not felt ourselves bound to regard the feelings and the sufferings 
of the quadruped. 
A more protracted residence at our places of veterinary tuition, 
by bringing young men of superior stations in life, and better 
previous education, will, by degrees, correct these principles 
and habits, which too much characterise, and yet disgrace the 
groom and the smith. 
Practice alone, founded on anatomical knowledge, can give 
expertness in operation. The human surgeon practises first on 
the dead subject ; and his instructor or his senior, standing by, 
