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THE VETERINARIAN , NOVEMBER 1829 . 
<4 Lici t omnibus, licet etiam mihi, dig litatem artis vctcrinarire tucri.”— Cicero. 
SOUNDNESS IN HORSES. 
By Mr. W. Percivall. 
[Head at tlie Veterinary Medical Society, October, 21, 1829.] 
Nunquam aliud natura, aliud sapientia elicit. 
IT is customary—it appears proper—oftentimes, perhaps, it is 
politic, for one about to discourse on any particular topic, to endea¬ 
vour, by way of preface or introduction, to impress the minds of his 
auditory with the importance of the subject, as regards them, and 
the difficulties with which it is beset, as regards himself. I will 
leave it to you, gentlemen, to say, whether on the present occasion 
there exists the slightest necessity for any such proem; nay, whe¬ 
ther the subject I have chosen for your consideration and discus¬ 
sion be not one of paramount importance to us all, and that, of all 
others, on which too many of us may possibly entertain dif¬ 
ferent and even opposite opinions. Under these inauspicious 
circumstances, you may, and very properly, feel inclined to re¬ 
gard me, at the present moment, as having placed myself in a 
very precarious situation : when, however, I inform you that my 
motives for so doing, are such as lead me to entertain hopes that I 
shall gain by it more information than I shall probably find my¬ 
self able to impart; and that thereby a grievous hiatus in veteri¬ 
nary science may be in some measure reduced, you will perhaps, 
in your known liberality and kindness, find some excuse for me 
if I attempt that which I feel but too apprehensive the sequel 
will prove was beyond my abilities to achieve. 
Mr. Richard Lawrence, whom you all know to be an author of 
no mediocre talent and ability, in the year 1809, wrote on the 
same subject; and that you may learn in what light he viewed 
the task he had set himself, I will give you a passage from his 
Preface:—“ I am the first (says Mr. L.) who has undertaken the 
Herculean task; and am therefore entitled, at least, to the ap¬ 
probation of the public for my good intentions, however they may 
have fallen short of success.*” I believe I may assert, without 
* Observations on the Causes which constitute Unsoumlness in Horses. 
By Hiehard Lawrence, Veterinary Surgeon. 
