170 
THE COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF THE 
for themselves; and although he confesses himself unable to 
abandon the use of the firing-iron, he thanks Mr. Sewell for his 
perseverance in the use of the seton, giving it all the credit he 
considers to be its due. 
I now touch on tender ground—on that occupied, in this de¬ 
bate, by yourself; and from your station, your science, and your 
experience, it may be called vantage ground. That the result 
of the last-named acquirement, on your part, is in favour of the 
cautery, is evident on your own shewing, and you succeed in 
clearly demonstrating your reasons for the choice. The stimu¬ 
lant to produce counter-irritation, say you, should not be brought 
into actual contact with the diseased part, which, as regards the 
legs, that produced by the seton must be. This objection is good, 
and obvious to the meanest capacities, amongst which, on these 
matters, may be reckoned my own : it would be adding fuel to 
fire, either in leg cases, or those of extensive and acute in¬ 
flammatory disease. But although you advocate firing, and 
what may be termed severe firing, you do not admire the Messrs. 
Turner’s deep cautery lesions; neither do I, to the extent in¬ 
flicted on Paddy, the Surrey huntsman’s horse. In fact, I 
freely declare I would rather shoot a horse than subject him to 
undergo such torture—admitting, at the same time, that such a 
resolve on my part detracts not from the value of the operation 
to those who are willing to avail themselves of it. I should be 
afraid to meet my good old horse in another world with the 
firing-iron in his paw, and being compelled to address him in the 
words of Nisus, in the .^Eneid,— 
** Adsum qui feci, in me convertite/errum.*^ 
But, Sir, to be serious. I remember a remark that fell from 
you, some twelve or fourteen numbers back, that the practice of 
the veterinary art can only be securely and honourably based on 
science and humanity; and the seldomer we hear of, or see, 
merely to enable an animal to contribute to our pleasures, or 
even to our gains, lesions made in his limbs by hot irons, in 
which the finger of the operator can be buried—lesions, wounds 
that take seven long months to heal—the better will it be for the 
credit and character of the veterinary art. You ask the question, 
** Who gave us the right to inflict such horrible and protracted 
suffering?” I answer, “ We have no such right; certainly not 
from the acknowledged supremacy of man.” It seems to have 
been the intention of Providence, that the lower orders of ani¬ 
mals should be subservient to the comfort, the convenience, and, 
also, to the pleasures of man ; but his dominion” extends no 
further; although, when exercised with humanity and justice, the 
