448 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
Could we place our subject in proper position by a gentle¬ 
manly request to sit down here now, or just lie down on this 
table, or turn this way or that way, or could we induce him to 
take the anaesthetic by a kindly suggestion as to quiet regular 
breathing, closed eyes, etc., it would place us one long stride in 
advance of our present situation. It is true that gentleness and 
patience, with a certain firmness and confidence in our superi¬ 
ority of mind over that of any lower animal, goes far towards 
controlling the most nervous or vicious; but the instant we 
inflict pain—we arouse the instinct of self-preservation and 
inseparable from it. 
The effort to escape, or the most vigorous defensive meas¬ 
ures the victim is capable of, makes restraint by force our only 
resource. While restraint is unpleasant, unsatisfactory, even 
when applied in the most scientific and skillful manner, it is not 
entirely devoid of danger to the patient and to those who must 
handle him. 
The difficulty in retaining suitable protective dressings con¬ 
fronts us immediately on concluding an operation. The external 
conformation and the hairy covering render the application of 
bandages, or adhesive strips a trying task, and if not displaced 
by the struggles incident to its release from the mechanism by 
which it has been controlled, they are at once regarded as an in¬ 
fringement on ts personal liberty not to be tolerated, and its ingen- 
utiy in undoing our finest handiwork is only equalled by the op¬ 
portunities afforded by the ignorance and stupidity of the average 
attendant in whose care our dumb friend must be left, and rio-ht 
/ o 
' at this point a most trying and difficult position confronts us. 
The majority of us are compelled to leave our patients to the 
tender mercies of a class of men who by their environments 
and social conditions are, as a rule, neither intellectually nor 
morally desirable as nurses. Contend as we may for the equality 
of American citizens, the fact remains that a man who works 
long hours, frequently exposed to cold and storms—held respon¬ 
sible for accidents—whether due to his carelessness or not—and 
withal overworked and underpaid, develops habits inimical to the 
service required and necessary for the proper care of veterinary 
patients. It is also impossible to impress such men with the 
importance of absolute cleanliness in their services. Filthy per¬ 
sonal habits—if nothing else—render them unteachable in this 
line. If fortunate enough to escape all these pitfalls, we still have 
the unsanitary surroundings both in city and country practice. 
Filthy stalls, urine soaked, foul-smelling, without veutila- 
