FRENCH VIEWS OF VETERINARY PRACTITIONERS. 151 
possess. On the other hand, take care not to give admission to 
that timidity which paralyses talents, tact, and acquirements, 
and is the cause of losing many a favourable opportunity and 
profiting by many a fortunate chance: such a feeling engenders 
surprise at the simplest occurrences, makes one afraid to act, 
afraid to express an opinion, or occasions the expression of it in 
a confused and embarrassed manner. From such as he ought 
to avoid or dispossess himself of, let us pass to those qualifica¬ 
tions the veterinarian should cultivate. 
Natural taste for the art—a sort of vocation should be in¬ 
wardly felt by the man who devotes himself to the study and 
practice of the veterinary art: when such a disposition manifests 
itself, and the boy is of a robust and healthy constitution, his 
parents should consign him to the profession. A delicate puny 
youth, feeble in physical power, possesses not the power of 
casting and securing the large domestic animals, and mastering 
them, especially such as are unbroken or naturally untameable 
and vicious: indeed, such as these require not strength alone, 
but adroitness and tact in the subjugation of them. The work 
of the forge likewise requires physical strength, it being neces¬ 
sarily laborious; and skilfulness in such duties being much more 
necessary than is apt to be imagined, this point cannot be over 
insisted upon. The veterinary pupil should be well versed in 
his own language, not only that he may receive the full value of 
verbal instruction, but that he may understand the terms made 
use of, be able to arrange and digest his observations, take notes, 
&c. We live no longer in an age that reduces the veterinarian 
to a level with the lowest ranks of society: his communica¬ 
tions should be with persons of sound judgment and of ob¬ 
servation, in order that he may seize on every particle of in¬ 
formation concerning any disease, and thereby be the better 
enabled to devise a method of cure. Prior to establishing him¬ 
self in practice, he ought to have lived for some time with an 
old practitioner, to have seen a variety of cases, and thus, as it 
were, anticipate both time and experience, and be able to apply 
to 'particulars what he has been taught but in generals. In this 
manner he will acquire practical knowledge—that which the 
schools cannot afford him. With him, professional reputation 
will be earned by praiseworthy conduct, and not be cultivated 
for sordid pecuniary interest; he will despise charlatanry in¬ 
justice, and the vile artifices and tricks of usurped fame: he 
will only shew ambition for that which is due to real merit, 
though it take long to obtain it, and will aspire to triumph only 
when he has surmounted every obstacle in his arduous course. 
That reputation alone is lasting which results from knowledge 
