604 
W. H. DALRYMPLE. 
the health and condition of live stock, and have been overawed 
at the enormous mortality resulting from actual starvation dur¬ 
ing the months of wintry severity. On almost every report 
the inscription could be seen : Stock dying from starvation. 
Now, I do not presume to say that this baneful state of 
affairs is occasioned by any positive intention of cruelty, but I 
can find no other fitting appellation for it. I claim that anyone 
possessing an animal, or a number of animals, who does not pro¬ 
vide the necessary comfort, in the form of food and shelter, dur¬ 
ing the extreme seasons of the year, is guilty of an overt act of 
cruelty; and this also applies where a greater number of animals 
are kept than can be properly provided with the common com¬ 
forts of animal life. 
There are many other species of cruelty perpetrated on the 
lower animals, through a lack of education and knowledge, that 
might be alluded to, but as time will not permit of an exhaus¬ 
tive paper on such an inexhaustible topic, I will be compelled 
to forego discussion of them on this occasion. The references 
made, however, may, I trust, be the means of awakening special 
interest .among owners themselves, with regard to those con¬ 
ditions which inflict forms of cruelty, through neglect and in¬ 
difference, but which may as yet be without the pale of the in¬ 
fluence of our humane societies. 
There is another thought along this line which, if I passed 
over without allusion, I would feel recreant to duty. I refer to 
the pain that is often inflicted upon the noblest of our dumb 
friends as the result of the dictates of fashiori. There are many 
people who will thoughtlessly, and I trust I am correct in saying 
unknowingly, that is, of the conseqnent suffering of the animal, 
require of the veterinarian the performance of some operation, 
simply because fashion seems to demand it. Relative to this 
topic, permit me to quote to you the remarks of the eminent 
British veterinary authority. Dr. George Fleming, in his work on 
surgery. He says : “ Humanity is largely concerned in the hu¬ 
mane treatment of animals, and in relieving them from pain or 
distress. All unnecessary painful operations are acts of cruelty^ 
