SUPPLY OF PATIENTS TO VETERINARY INFIRMARIES. 327 
time, and seems unable to rise without assistance, it will 
sometimes be impossible to prevent his again lying down, 
but we shall at least have ascertained that he is not 
what the groom calls “cast,” that is, so lying in consequence 
of something in his position preventing him from rising, 
this condition being certainly fatal if not rectified in time. 
The disease of which we have been speaking being so 
usually associated with a recumbent position, has led to the 
adoption of the means at hand for lifting the patient up and 
supporting him subsequently, but without avail; it soon 
becomes evident that extreme exhaustion from pain is the 
cause of the position being chosen. 
Doubtless this peculiar form of intestinal disease is familiar 
to many of the experienced members of the profession ; and, 
taking into account its obscurity and fatality, we feel we are 
not unreasonable in expressing a hope that the readers of the 
Veterinarian may be favoured by the publication of numerous 
like instances, which we feel confident are scattered through 
many a well-filled case-book. 
THE SUPPLY OF PATIENTS TO VETERINARY 
INFIRMARIES. 
By the Same. 
In your leader of the last number of the Veterinarian you 
discuss a question of profound importance to the veterinary 
student, the agriculturist and, indeed, to the whole commu¬ 
nity—the impossibility of obtaining a reasonable amount of 
practical knowledge of the various diseases of cattle and 
sheep without a constant and systematic observation of the 
sick animals is patent to every one. 
However arduous in the pursuit of science, however un¬ 
flagging may be the energy of instructors, the results cannot 
be satisfactory, in the absence of efficient hospitals. 
Under present circumstances, the student may become a 
practical and good anatomist, a botanist, physiologist, or 
chemist, and be also well-instructed in the principles of 
pathology ; but before he can claim the position of a practical 
pathologist , he has to suffer the doubts and fears, and to 
struggle against the errors of inexperience. Practical infor¬ 
mation, acquired previous to a scientific education, furnishes 
a poor substitute for that knowledge which should be 
acquired in connection with scientific principles under the eye 
