A FEW PRACTICAL HINTS. 
305 
Some may ask: “ What do you give in a certain disease?” 
Reply promptly, “Advice.” Such answers sometimes work 
admirably. No one who is incompetent to examine a patient 
is competent to prescribe and you had better avoid all phar¬ 
macists whose presumption leads them to assume the role of 
veterinarian. I do not refer to emergencies where the drug¬ 
gist acts as a humanitarian. Avoid over-praising certain 
stallions for their characteristics, for some people will take 
your word and over-estimate them and rely on your judg¬ 
ment and afterwards curse your opinion. Avoid a pharma¬ 
cist who will refill your prescriptions for other patients than 
those for whom they were intended ; and I am sorry to say 
some druggists will do this very thing. 
Never exhibit surprise at any possible event growing out 
of sickness or an operation. Even when death occurs unex¬ 
pectedly, do not indicate you were ignorant of the possibility 
or were to blame. Be self-possessed and defend your course 
of treatment, if necessary. In case of sudden death do not as¬ 
sume an oracular air and express a positive opinion as to the 
cause, but show a determination neither to form nor deliver 
one until you have cooly and calmly collected the evidence, 
or preferably, held a post mortem. Never pronounce a limb 
as “only sprained,” and order a linament, with the assurance 
it will be all right in a few days, until you are positive it is 
not fractured, etc. The continued pain and swelling may call 
in another veterinary surgeon, who will discover the truth to 
your mortification. I live some less than a hundred miles 
from a celebrated surgeon and I can’t remember how many 
times I have been told by different people of a mistake of this 
kind he once made. 
Choose your language deliberately and give only definite 
answers, until you see whether any graver affection is hidden 
behind the present symptoms, whether new symptoms will be 
developed and whether there will be a response to the 
remedies used. 
Life is a different quantity in different animals of the same 
class. Some will have less than the average tenacity of life, 
while others will have more. Thus we will ofttimes be baffled 
i 
