220 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
rosive sublimate or the red precipitate of mercury ? These 
agents are of as little use in intelligent castration. Do the 
work with an appropriate instrument which will stop the flow 
of blood, leaving nothing to interfere with the healing of the 
wound. 
In the management of many cases of inflammation, as in 
other complaints, hygiene and general care are of as much im¬ 
portance as the selection of remedies just as in ancient battles 
the victory was due as much to the shield as to the sword. The 
successful veterinarian will look to every prophylactic measure, 
the quantity and quality of both feed and water, the ventilation 
of the stable, the size, location and quietude of the stall as well 
as the amount of bedding and clothing, for if any vulnerable 
point is left unguarded, there some complication may strike as 
the fatal arrow of Paris did the heel of Achilles. All in all the 
study and practice of medicine is as the immortal Hippocrates 
long ago concluded by saying “ Life is short and the art long; 
the occasion fleeting, experience fallacious and judgment diffi¬ 
cult. The physician must not only be prepared to do what is 
right himself, but also to make the patient, the attendants, and 
externals co-operate.” 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
VETERINARY SURGEON—DEGREE OF SKILL AND CARE. 
By L. W. Dinkelspiel. 
A recent decision of the New York Supreme Court contains 
an explicit exposition of the liability of veterinary surgeons in a 
case of failure to exercise reasonable and ordinary skill and care. 
An action was brought in the City Court of Albany by the 
plaintiff, a veterinary surgeon, to recover for services rendered 
and medicines furnished by him, in attending upon a sick horse 
of the defendant, and on account of which plaintiff claimed judg¬ 
ment for ten dollars. The defendant admitted the employment 
of plaintiff, but denied that the services rendered and medicines 
