I'liE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL.XI, No. 124.] APRIL 1838. [New Series, No. 64. 
THE COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF THE ACTUAL 
CAUTERY AND THE SETON. 
B(/ Nimrod. 
[Continued from p. 121.] 
I AM not surprised that Mr. Turner should be anxious, inde¬ 
pendently of party spirit, to place on record a detail of the ad¬ 
vantages of a system which he has long pursued, not only boldly 
but successfully; and we have here a kind of summary of the 
effects of the general application of the actual cautery to horses^ 
legs. Of this paper, my limits will not allow me to say more 
than that, in the space of half a page, he has condensed matter 
of fact in support of his own and his brother’s peculiar practice, 
which it is not only difficult to gainsay, but which it would re¬ 
quire the aid of fire itself to destroy. The astounding results, 
indeed, of his deep cautery lesions startle even myself, who have 
the highest opinion of his abilities, and a firm reliance on his 
veracity; neither do I dissent from the encomiums he considers 
himself entitled to bestow on the practice of himself and his bro¬ 
ther. Still, with all my personal regard for these gentlemen— 
all my admiration of their talents—all my faith in their firing- 
irons—I should rejoice to see the time when still higher enco¬ 
miums will be bestowed on the seton, because I believe it to be 
the least painful instrument of the two, and one more in accord¬ 
ance with the enlightened and, consequently, refined notions of 
mankind in general. 
I could not fail being pleased with the candid statement of 
Mr. Holmes, who, willing to give credit to the seton, cannot go 
the length Mr. Richmond had gone in extending its use to osse¬ 
ous deposits, which are the evils chiefiy to be combatted in the 
stables of sportsmen and coach-masters. His advice to the stu¬ 
dents of his profession is also creditable to his judgment, as well 
as to his independent feeling. Whilst he recommends them to 
pay due deference to their teachers, he wishes them to think 
voi.. XI. A a 
