Veterinary Science in Australia.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1970, 21 February 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

Veterinary Science in Australia.

Impoutant aq the subject undoubtedly is to Australia, which is essentially a stock raising country, and one which, ag such, does ami must hold a very high place in the scale of nations, it is very much to bo questioned if, and equally to be deplored that, veterinary science ha 3 done little more than emerge from its infancy amongst us. Of courre there are in Australia many skilful and learned veterinarians, men who can and do hold their own in the front rank of their profession against the world, but, alas I what are they amongst co many ? It is not too much to say that scattered broadcast throughout tho length and breadth of the land there nre tor every skilled practitioner a hundred others who perhaps beyond being able somehow to shoe a horse or to administer a drench, know absolutely nothing of the important functions they undertake, and to the tender mercies of these ignorant and presumptuous charlatans are entrusted the lives and well-being of the millions of horpes, cattle, and sheep which form so important a factor in the national wealth. As it is, any farrier, blacksmith, or groom may, even without the capacity to understand a'Oase of sickness, or to diagnose a disease, set up as a cattle doctor, and by sheer impudent assumption and ignorance do more harm to the hapless animals placed under his charge than if they had been left alone. Hence the speedy necessity for establishing in this country, aa has been done in most other civilised countries, veterinary colleges or schools, where, under the tuition of capable and recognised authorities, students may learn the symptoms, causes, and treatment of the ills to which horses, neat cattle, and sheep are incident; and, what u of equal value, the proper manipulation of the fiiok, maimed, or diseased of the brute creation. We are glad to know that in Melbourne, at least, a step has been taken in the direction of the formation of such a school, and shall gladly hail its inception. But if the evils we have referred to exist, in the large cities, how much more terribly magnified must they bo in the country districts, where any ignorant boor who calla himself a horse and cattle doctor has almost supreme sway. Surely in such a matter, where so much of the national prosperity h at Btake, it is the duty of the Government to look to it. But, in the absence of any suoh institution, the next best thing is to endeavour to miti» gate the evil by promulgating amongst stockbreeders and owners some knowledge of the ills by which their property is liable to be affeoted, and to give in plain and unmistakeable language, based on accurate knowledge and authentic authority, suoh information us is necessary for the alleviation and cure of the disease* or accidents referred to. Suoh an endeavor has, we are glad to say, been made, and now lies before us, the subject of this review. There can be no doubt that for this book, " Diseases of Australian HorseH," Australia owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. William T. Kendall. That there have been numerous works published on the same subject in England and America, the names of suoh acknowledged authorities as Youatt, Clater, Williams, Blame, Gamgee, Armitage, and ft host of others will testify ; but that they are specially applicable to the peculiar requirements of this country may, to some extent, be open to question. To begin with, let us first consider that veterinary science, like every other soience, is progressive. We admit their premises, we aocept their dicta in the abstract, but according to climatic influences we modify, or, it may be, improve on, them. We do not dispute what they say, but wo contend that what is sauce for the goose is not, always, sauce for the gander. Certain diseases may and do affect hor jcs in the old world, which are almost unknown here, or at best, or worst, only known in a modiutd form, and vice vena. And therefore the remedies and treatment must, of having regard to the difference in 'climate, and in point of faot of atmosphere and of the character of food, be also modified, if not altogether altered. And herein is the value of this book. It deals not so much with horses in the abstract as with horses in Australia. That is the subject with which the author has grappled ; that id the subject about which he has given us a vast fund of useful and practical information, lie speaks with no uncertain sound. He deals with no generalities. He tells us in as plain language as that whioh one uses to his friend, the result of his studies, of his practically noquired knowledge, of his observation, tho causes, ajmptoina, and proper method of treatment of our equin* friends when— to put it into colloquial language — anything has gone wrong with them. And herein has he done well. Me is ooncise, terso to the point. Bulky volumes of learned lore and abstruse argument are things of the past. What we want to know we want to know quickly. We want our information condensed, put into a nutshell, so to speak. But that condensation must be a real one, that nutshell must contain the perfect nut. Otherwise we will have none of it. And Mr. Kendall has given us this. In a work of 220 pages ho has given ua all we want to know, all, in fact, that it is nooesßary for us to know about the diseases of Australian horses. Ho divides his work into nineteen chapters, and those chapters are sub-divided into numerous paragraphs, nor is it too much to say that with regard to the 'matter it deals with, every

paragraph is a chapter in itself. It ia clear, distinct, unmi'-t'v'.ablc, nohody ci:i ni'pinterp^'t it. Taen fore to everybody interested, — md most people are inteie»ted— it is tho mo>-e valuable. L joking through the work cirefu l !y, a3 we have clone, we conscientiously say that there i 3 not a disease internal or external, a wound, or am injury, to which Australian horses are liable, that is not treated on in a atraightforwaid and masterly manner, a manner that innately proves the writer to be a master of his subjeot. Therefore, to all btnek-bresders, stock-owners, and, indeed, to all tho-e who own or are intere-3t«d in horses, or for the mattpr of that, cattle either, we can honestly recommend it, not only for perusal, but for conataut reference. More than all this. The writer has that difficult thing to find now-a-dayfl, the courage of hi 3 opinions. There can be no mistake about that. Most people, writing on scientific subjects such ag thi*, are prone to shelter themselves under the negis of s>omo accepted authority or point of usas^o. Not ao Mr. Kendall. He boldly attacks accepted but erroneous treatment, and what is Btill more, he fhows, on the plain Rround of common ?ensp, that he is right. His two sub-chaptei-3 on tha subjeota of dieting of sick horses and giving modicino, ought, we hesitate not to say, to be written in tatters of gold. Nor is he less out3pokeu in his article on shoeing. In 51 lines he disposes of the much contested questions of paring the sole, paring the frog, and opening up ihe heels. His opinions may be looked upon as rank heresy, but there they are, nor dooa he blame the proprietor less frequently than the operator. Ab addenda to the work are two interesting and essentially useful chapters, one on " How to choose a horse, and the other a most admirably written precis of the law of hoise warranty, both of which ought to bo not only read, but re-read and carefully studied by all those who possess, or hope to possess the noblest friend of man, a horae. In a word, we cannot too highly recommend a perusal of thia exceptionaily ably-written book to all our readers, for who can tell but that at some day or other a ccintilla of the knowledge to be gained therefrom might bo the means of their curiog the illness, or it may be even saving the life of a favorite and perhaps valuable steed. And even after all this, there is an addenda in the work whioh is, of all, not least valuable, and that is that Mr. Kendall has inserted a list of questions — questions mind you to be aßked by those who have suffering quadrupeds, questions pertinent, and to the point, questions put plainly, inteirogatively and practically — which questions being submitted in straightforward English, he will reply to at once iv all cases where horse-owners are at a loss, or have a difliculty to understand what may have happened to their equine friends.