Veterinary Education

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into th e vagina. T his is another instance where an early examination is d emanded. Illustrative of this is a case of a cow belonging to ::vIr. Smith, of Birdsgrove. H er proper period was past, but without exhibiting "pains,"-although she had been c, off at the hips," and the udder fill ed. The subsidence of these sympt oms without any appearance of the fcetus led t o my se rvi ces bein g solicited. Examination proved th e fcetus to b e roll ed up in a leathery membrane, detached, and like a huge ball. This was opened, the head and feet corded, and with th e employment of a g reat amount of traction it was extracted . Th ere was no interference with the h ealth of the an imal. ( To I,,; {"Mtillttcd. )

VETERINARY EDUCATION. BY A

VETERI~ARY

STUDE:\T .

THERE is a complain t sp rin g in g up on all sides of the 110nappreciation of the veterinary profession by the public; and th e question upon ",hich this complaint is based is one seriously troublin g the mind of every vet erinarian \r ho has the propel' professional spirit. It is one wh ich would not long trouble them, were there enough professiona l pride among th em. Something is due t o p ubl ic bigotry and prejudice, but more to veterinary ignorance. The scientific sta nd ard of the schools has never been such as to meet or merit much recogniti on from those of the sister profession . Veterinary m ed icine, inst ead of being the foundation on ""hich human m edicin e should stand, has been a sort of bastard parasite, cling ing yery loosel y to the latter for support. Men a nd youths ha\'e att ended the veterinary schools with no higher ambition th an to become " horse doctors." To learn enough to make a living has been in general the acme of their ambition . This state of thin gs exists at the present time, with very few individual exceptions; and so long as it continues, men may complain, and write pages, or e\'en books, about it, and it will avail but little. The cause for it, first and forliffiost,

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rests with the schools. The object of these has bcen, and is, to attract students-fir st to help pay cxpenses, and secondly to give the proper education; and in all this an unfortunate ~ivalry exists. Another misfortune is that th e schools have never been properly started; \vhi! e another is that there are too ma ny of th em . For the ad~'a ncelllent of science, a school shouid be so fund ed that the directors and professors need have but little cause to t rouble themse ives about the number of students necessary t o pay th e expenses. The union of the best talent of the four schools in England and Scotland in one school , properly fun ded, would mark t!1 c! advent of a new departure in English veterinary science, I t should be done by direc t donation from the wealthy horse me n :lnd stockmen of Britain, amI by handsome support from the Govern men t. 'With such enthusiastic fri ends of scientific advance me nt as Mr. Fleming-, Colonel Fitzwygram, a nd othe rs, th e task should not be so very difficult. The educational s t::n dard for applicants is in no way high enough t o elevate th e profession, and it allows the entrancc of t oo inferio r m en into it. Reading, writing, a rithmetic, and g rammar only, are simply ridiculous requirements; and any school certificate wouid be sufficient for these. T o read in Latin a nd Greek \\'ith moderate proficiency, and German and French understandin gly, should be positively insisted on; but here an allowance sh ould b e made in favour of the' student, as rCf:a rds these latter !al; ; uages : he should be required t o read them in medical works, a nd it should bc so advertised. Then young men fitting- them selves for the medical school s could so direct thei r studies as t o acquire not only German and French, but likewise some insight into medicin e at the same time. The read ing in the general literature of thcse countries is, in this case, of secondary importa nce, and can b e acquired at any time during li fe. It is well known that the latest additions to medical knowledge are never to be found in t ext-books, but in reviews and j ournals; and no man can b e a really scientific practitioner who does n ot diligently study these. And with all h onesty we must admit that the French and German veterinary p eriodicals are not only better than the English, but are much more

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numerou s. Such periodicals offer the b est opportunity for exchanging id eas, for confirming doubtful points, and fixing those which become the facts of advancing scie nce. There are two classes of men most commonly met with in a profession: the truly scientific, uniting theoretical and practical knowledg-e; and the mere practitioner. As yet, so far as the English veterinary profession goes, the latter is about all we h ave had. The value of Latin and Greek to the future advancement of the science cannot be over-estimated . Of late we have committed a great mistake in thinking tha t a knowledge of English nomenclature was sufficient; and some h ave gone so far as to say that it is all that is necessary. As scientific knowledge becomes more diffused, it will also bec ome more exact; and the necessity for an international nom enclature will become more and more requisite. So that our professional leaders should see to it that the rising members of the profession are properly fitted to carryon their work. The value of a high degree of genera l education, such as will fit young men to be ornaments to society, has never been sufficiently emphasized among us. And it is to this that the non-appreciaticn of the public may in some measure be attributed. Veterinary surgeons could talk " horse," but of general science and knowledge they knew very little. A truly educated professional man should be also able to give an int ellig en t opinion on all subjects interesting to mankind_ By this means he will win friend s and respect, as a member of cultivated society. This requires study and application on the part of the student. Among those subjects most to be recomm ended, the Evolution Theory, and the writings of Darwin and Huxl ey, are to be well studied; those having especial relation to the profession are the" State of Animals and Plants und er D omestication," by the former, and the "Comparative Anatom y of Vetebrates," by the latter; but their other writings cannot be neglected. The n we h ave those subjects which are yet to b ecome 'i!ital in the course of human development-" The Relation of Man to the State," and" Th e Relation of Woman to th e State," "Church and State," "Political Economy," and the gen eral hi story of th e nations of the ,vorlel. To thi s end, Stuart

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Mill and Herbert Spencer must be studied, and the nations' history can be best read in their religious progress. To this end such works as those of l\1ax Miiller, Strauss, Rcnan, and others, are to be recommended. vVhen we have acquired this, then, and not till then, shall we be fitted to take our place as members of an enlightened society. Let us now return to those branches of education bearing directly on our professional course of study. But before doing so, I desire to offer a strong protest against the value, in an educational point of view, put upon the time served in a;l apprenticeship by the English schools; for it is more hurtful to the scientific advancement of the profession than beneficial. It will certainly be found true by experience that, other things being equal, of two youths who have attained sixteen years of age, both intending to enter the veterinary profession, and at this time in educational requirements and mental power as near as may be alike,-if one enters into an apprenticeship, and the other gives three years to the study of special branches to be alluded to hereafter, and the rudiments of which should never be taught in medical schools-Botany, Chemistry, and Physics, with th e lan guages before alluded to-the latter will be far more an honour to the profession than the former. The first. will always be alluding to what he learned as an apprentice with Mr. So-and-so, and will never have a high idea of true science. It seems to be overlooked that Mr. So-and-so acquired his knowledge perhaps thirty or forty years ago, and has become rusty and antiquated in many things; he only too often looks on the later improvements as " new-fangled notions"; and our student is t oo apt to become impregnated with those id eas. I do not infer that Mr. So-a/ld-so may 110t be a good and successful practitioner, but to me his influence is bad. Six months ' stay with him after graduating would indeed be valuable, as Otlr student could then intelligently compare the old and the new. The schools should be full of life; they should be filled with the spirit of the future; and they ought to use the present and the past for that end. All respect is due to things that are old; but in sc ience they should be continually tested by the burning crucible of fresh and advancing knowledge; and not become, as

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is t oo often the case, dead weight, clogging the wheels of science. That 11 0 student should be admitted to college b efo re he is nin eteen years of age, ought to be self-evident; as, if he is received before that period, it thro\\"s him into practice before the reflective powers have been suffici ent ly developed. The a im of the schools shou ld be entirely scient ifi c professional advar,cement, and every student should be se nt int o the world fitted for that end. That the maj ority will seek p ractice, and money be their aim, is human; but the duty of t he schools is not changed thereby. ' It may be objected that such a course and such educational requirements would shut the do ors of our schools t o all but th e wealthy, and that p oo r but able students would have no chance. But it has been scl;;;csted that the Government should be a h andsom e contribLlt o ~· t o the sch ool fu nd; and for this a certain numbe r of such st ude nts could be admitted grat is yearly, and educated at th e State expense; th is they migh t be made to repay by a certain n um ber of years' se rvice as Army Veterina ry Surgeons, which would be a public benel1t . I have alluded to Chemistry, P hysl cs, a nd Botany, and said their ru dim ents s h ould not be t aught in medical schools. To illustrate my meaning, we will take chemistry; and what is said as regards that can be made t o a ppl y Il'ith equal force to the others. Chemistry, so fa r as my experience a nd acquaintance goes, seems t o be a bugbear t o medi ca ! stcldcnt s, and they might well b e rid of it. It is only exc ep t icn:llly th at one meets a practising medical man who really k no ll'S anythin g of it. A few urine tests, and the simplest of J.na iyses, are the most they attain to. Few profess any knowl e (~ ge, J. nci still fewer manifest any des ire t o acquire any of thi s bl':'. !lch of our studies. Yet in all the schools we are required t o stu dy chemistry, and in all of th em most students give as litfc t:!~H! as possible to it. Exceptionally a stud ent di splays a spe ci al aptitude ' for it, and acquires a very creditable rep utation th ereby. The reason for thi s is obvious. Anatomy, histol ogy, patllOlogy, surgery, etc., a re t o the stud ent absolutely necessa ry, as \';ithout a knowledge of th em he knolVs he cannot obtain a livelihood; th erefore he studi es them more or less cheerfully, and as his interest in his profession or worldly success inspire hin~. C hemistry h e looks

Veterinary Ealtcatioll .

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upon as an interpolation in the professional curriculum, the utility of which he seldom seeks to know. The reason for this is that chemistry, in n early all m edical schools, is taught in a different manner to medical science. Elementary chemistry is taught, and not strictly medical chemistry. A knowledge of elementary chemistry, botany, and physics, should be required -o f the applicant for admission to the veterinary schools; and the long and t edious lectures now given, and which carry him through the \vhole field of chemistry-organic and inorganicshould be abolished. This abolition rests with the school directors. That chemistry is unn ecessary, the writer would be the last to affirm. Chemistry is a science apart, which requires special study and application, a nd does not, in its elementary parts, belong to medical education. Up to th e present time our system of education has b een wrong. Th e study of the eleme ntary sci cnces should b e begun young; and at about sixt een r ears of age the youth should be so educated as to t ake up those special stu dies beari ng more directly on his future course in life. This course shou ld be truly scientific, and have special rcference to hi s ad mission to those institutions which he will then enter. The course in the medical schools should be strictly that pa rt of these sc iences belong ing specially t o medicine. lVled ical chemistry wou ld now be interesting, and the students would be no laggards. Toxicology should form a very importa nt part of it, and the action of drugs on living animals sh ou ld be known t o every student. I know I come in conflict with the opinions .e ntertained by anti-vivisec tors in thi s matter; but h ow a better lise for stray curs and half-starved cats, rats, and such nuisances, can be had is hard to discover. Students should make practical analyses of the stomachs of such animals, and write out these analyses, describing the action of the drug as a medicine and as a poison-th e toxic ph enomena and th e pathological alterati ons in the tissues. The best of thes e reports in each case should be read by the professor to the class, to which he would add the necessary remarks and comments. The chemical prope rties of all kinds of food should be perfectly understood, as well as the testing and analysis of all the fluids of the body. Botany, when taugh t in the same way, becom es very nearly

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allied to chemistry. The study of physics at the medical school should be only applicable to the animal b ody-its movements, etc. By such an arrangement, it seems to the writer that our science would make rapid advancement, a nd our whole course of study would be a uni~y, which it certainly is not under the present system.

ANEURISM OF THE POSTERIOR AORTA, RUPTURE AND DEATH. 1;Y C. A. ROLLS, l\I.R. C.V.S., ARU DEL.

history of this patient is given as follows by the owner:"Tom was a piebald pony, about fourteen hands high, and thirteen years old. He was bred from a circus mare, and passed through several ownerships before he came into my possession, about six years since. He was a stout, well-made pony, very fast and active, always carried plenty of fl esh, and at tim es was very fat. Though a quiet worker, he was a ve ry restless starter; but a thoroug h good roadster, and to the last would bravely collar a heavy load. I now come to the only symptom I remember, and which at the time I thou ght nothing of: "/IVltell Olt a long jOltr11e;', and 11early tired, fte would appear 10 knuckle over 'luitlt Itis 11car !tiud f etlock-joint, as if from a slight c?'amjJ £1t tlte sinews. I have noticed this some five or six times during th e last two years. He showed no other symptom, and never had a day's illness whilst in my p ossess ion, or to my knowledge previously. The last few weeks of his life he seemed at times a little sluggish, or, more properly speaking, sleepy. On the morning of the day of his death he ate his corn and appeared perfectly well; but about 9 a.m. he lay down and could not get up. He was in considerable pain, and appeared to be suffering from an attack of Colic. I gave him a Colic draught, when he immediately became delirious, and fell first on his off and then on his near side very violently, then dashed at us and fell headlong. As soon as we got him up the pain ceased; he was perfectly quiet, but g radually became very cold and trembled so that he could scarcely stand. I noticed about THE