754 
W. H. DALRYMPLE. 
terious about his “ make-up,” but that he was simply an expo¬ 
nent of a noble branch of medical science, with a knowledge— 
from his training—superior to that possessed by the empiric, to 
whose tender mercies (?) and lack of knowledge had previously 
been intrusted the medical (?) care of their live stock. 
This experience has reference principally to the country dis¬ 
tricts in Louisiana, outside the city of New Orleans, in which 
city graduates have been located for some years. 
Veterinary medicine and surgery in the more Southern States 
are still in their infancy ; but through the influence exerted by 
the reputable graduates the people are beginning to realize the 
value of intelligent aid in the care and treatment of their ani¬ 
mals, in contradistinction to the illiteracy and superstition of the 
empiric, who is usually in the habit of compounding his myste¬ 
rious nostrums at certain phases of the moon, and performing his 
so-called operations under similar lunar conditions. 
The “ quack ” is still very largely in evidence, not only the 
native, but frequently we have men from further North, of the 
“flying specialist ” type, who rarely make their appearance twice 
at the same place, but who usually make good use of their time 
and wits on their first visit, and succeed in taking the proverbial 
“ barrels ” of money out of the pockets of the credulous and con¬ 
fiding stock-owner. Unfortunately, we have as yet no State law 
to protect either the public or the profession against this class 
of imposition. In fact, I think the present existing conditions 
would hardly warrant legislation on this subject for some time 
yet. Outside of New Orleans there are few cities of any great 
size ; stock generally, although improving very much of late, is 
not of a very high class, and in many cases the owners prefer to 
let them take their chances rather than send any distance for 
the services of a qualified veterinarian. This condition of af¬ 
fairs, however, is gradually changing as the value of our ser¬ 
vices becomes better known ; but when I tell you that the State of 
Louisiana, outside of the city of New Orleans, can boast of 
only three or four qualified men you can readily see why it 
is that any sort of individual who makes the merest pre- 
