152 FRENCH VIEWS OF VETERINARY PRACTITIONERS. 
and experience. If he will only take the trouble, at the-com¬ 
mencement of his professional career, of noting down his obser¬ 
vations, of registering every circumstance and symptom of the 
diseases he treats, very great advantages will accrue from it. In 
keeping a faithful record of what passes under his eye, successful 
and unsuccessful events will equally afford a something, not for 
him alone, but perhaps for science in general. It is to be de¬ 
sired that every veterinarian, even the experienced, whose cir¬ 
cumstances permit it, had the opportunity of noting down, not 
merely his observations and particular remarks, but of writing a 
faithful history of the diseases he is called on to treat, and noting 
every thing he sees, and comparing such accounts with what 
has been observed in former times, or by any of his cotempo¬ 
raries. Thus he would amass heaps of rich materials; and if 
every one did the same, a mine would be formed, out of 
which one might extract, with immense advantage, materials for 
a good system of nosology, a work still wanting to the veteri¬ 
narian. The true veterinarian is he who, dedicating his whole 
life to the preservation of animals of use to man, makes the study 
and exercise of his profession his principal source of enjoyment 
and only occupation; who seeks those who know more than 
himself for information and advice, rather than for admirers ; and 
whose only ambition is the acknowledgments of the person he has 
served, and the approbation of the small number of savans en¬ 
gaged in occupations like his own. Full of zeal for the science, 
it becomes his duty to advance it by every means in his power: 
anxious to become acquainted with all important discoveries, he 
will seek them with avidity, examine them without prejudice, 
and yield up his confidence in proportion to their apparent 
claims. Ever ready to welcome truth and repel error, he pre¬ 
serves in his mind that philosophical scepticism which to us ap¬ 
pears to be the principle of all true science. Finally, the vete¬ 
rinarian should maintain a good understanding with his pro¬ 
fessional brethren. Reciprocal good feeling should excuse the 
commission of any accidental improprieties, and with the utmost 
regard for one another, they should seek occasions for the inter¬ 
change of friendly communications. Not only should jealousy 
be banished from among them, but a scrupulous delicacy should 
ever operate, in every case and under every pretext, in prevent¬ 
ing them from interfering with one another’s practice. 
The pupil, on leaving college, carries home with him a rich 
stock of theory, but little knowledge of real practice, and not 
sufficient insight into shoeing : indeed, some veterinarians dis¬ 
dain the forge, as if it were derogatory for them to pay attention 
to that which concerns them. This is a very great mistake; 
