SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING VETERINARY MEDICINE. 679 
fession, the Institution , and the Pupil. Under the first head 
I would place the necessity which exists, in these times, 
for the members of the profession to gradually withdraw 
themselves from all connection with the trade of the shoeing- 
smith, in so far as the shoeing of horses for the public on 
the same plan or system of business as the ordinary artizan. 
Veterinary surgeons being acquainted with the principles of 
shoeing, and possessing a forge for infirmary purposes, is 
quite another thing, and perhaps as necessary as that they 
should be provided with a stable in which to place a sick 
animal, or a pharmacy for the dispensing of medicines. 
There are, I am well aware, some notable exceptions to a 
veterinary surgeon being lessened in his standing in society by 
this connection; but, speaking generally, our profession has 
suffered greatly from this cause, and will do more from the 
mighty engines that are at work in educating and elevating 
all classes of society. Talk to most men, and they will tell 
you that the forge brings no profit of itself, but that it helps 
to keep together their circle of clients; and yet we find 
many of those who enjoy the largest practices to be without 
the forge. In country towns, where the extent of the vete¬ 
rinary surgeon’s returns will not permit an establishment of 
this kind for infirmary purposes alone, an arrangement, advan¬ 
tageous to both parties, can always be made w T ith the resident 
smith. 
The next point I would refer to, is the avoidance of horse¬ 
dealing. Buying and selling of horses far too frequently 
lead to associations which should be avoided at all hazards. 
To say the least, it draws a veterinary surgeon away from his 
home, leads to a neglect of his practice, the offending of his 
clients, and his ultimate total disregard of the science he pro¬ 
fesses. To sell a horse, he has almost invariably to sacrifice 
his professional knowledge to the love of gain, as he must either 
conceal defects which he knows to exist, or speak of them as 
things of no consequence; — thus the veterinary surgeon 
adopts a course the very opposite to the one he employs to 
maintain his reputation as a man of science. We see from 
this that horse-dealing and the practice of Veterinary 
Medicine are the greatest incompatibles that can be found 
in almost any calling. Keep repositories, institute periodic 
sales, become horse-dealers entirely if you will, or eschew 
these things, and be veterinary surgeons ; you cannot be both. 
In large towns, or in the best agricultural districts, it will 
rarely happen that a veterinary surgeon, whose conduct 
puts a high value on his name, will need any additional 
source of income to that of the practice of his profession. 
In other localities, it may be that this is required; if so, 
