CORRESPONDENCE. 
501 
dose of each. In the infirmary cultivate habits of observation. 
Make him acquainted with the temperaments, dispositions, habits 
and general characteristics of the animals which are our patients, 
and teach him to note the general symptoms that distinguish the 
sick from the healthy. Tell him what the prominent symptoms 
of special diseases are, and how best he can see or detect them; 
teach him above all things, in this connection, to be a good diag¬ 
nostician. Let him learn to make examinations, especially for 
lameness, so that he may become familiar with topographical 
anatomy and accustomed to the handling of patients, for only in 
this way can he learn to be careful and at the same time void of 
timidity. Have him know where to find the pulse in the differ¬ 
ent animals and how often it beats in health, so that in disease you 
can make him comprehend the change in quantity, but particu¬ 
larly in quality. Teach him the healthy respiration and the ab¬ 
normal ; where to take the temperature—how, when and why you 
take it. Let him make rectal and vaginal examinations, tell him 
what he finds and the value of the examination in detecting; dis- 
ease. Familiarize him with the buccal cavity, the nasal cavity and 
the smell of the breath ; the normal appearances of the secretions 
and excretions, and what their general changes indicate. 
Teach him hygiene in a practical manner by directing his at¬ 
tention to the general care and management of both the sick and 
well, and give him an insight into physiological and pathological 
shoeing by showing him how you shoe and telling why you so 
shoe. Last, but by no means least, cultivate a disposition to 
original research by supervising his post-mortem examinations and 
indicating to him what is healthy tissue and what is diseased, and 
the significance of the latter. 
As to the facilities for obtaining proper office instruction in 
this country, I confess they are exceedingly limited. In the first 
place there are but few veterinarians here, and a large percentage 
of these have not the opportunity nor the facilities for such teach¬ 
ing. A majority of the best practitioners live in cities where 
their practice is almost entirely confined to the diseases of horses, 
with an occasional case in the dog. It is not in these practices 
that the student can gain the widest general knowledge of the 
