Page images
PDF
EPUB

reafon, and keeping the lead conftantly going, which is the fureft and beft guide in navigating a fhip where foundings can be had, or where there are no foundings.; P. 7.

The dependence to be placed on the opinion given of a fhip, where the characters of the feamen who fpeak of her are not known, may be collected from the anecdote which follows.

I must here beg leave to relate a matter of fact, with respect to what I have faid in the working or management of a ship, which will fufficiently prove how differently hips act under the management of different officers, and that ships, like men, often get good or ill characters without deferving them, or without any good grounds or reafons given for what is faid of them. I failed two years in his majesty's fhip G... n, was then removed into his majefty's fhip E..,, h, in which I ferved five years, we changed fhips, captains, officers, and fhips companies; the character of each fhip, with refpect to her failing, working, and her trim, was left in each fhip in writing for the guidance of the commanders and officers.

Thefe two fhips, characters, or qualifications, were almost appofite, or quite different to each other; the G . n was reported to fail pretty well, work well, was quick in stays, feldom or never missed stays, but was flow and long in wearing, and steered well in general. She carried her helm weatherly upon a wind.

The E.... h's character was, that the failed very well, but was flack in stays, frequently miffing stays, even in moderate weather, but wore quick in general, the steered well, but rather carried a flack helm upon a wind.

[ocr errors]

Thofe two fhips were five years in company, being on fervice together in India, and you may fee from what follows how the hips qualities were changed, the officers of the G... n carried her qualities into the E.... h, and the E h's officers carried her qualities into the G... n. n. The E... . h during that long fervice, feldom or ever miffed stays, indeed the always tayed in all kinds of weather, when a fhip could be expected to ftay. The G... n ftayed badly, very frequently miffed stays, and I have feen her mifs ftays twice in three times in fine weather with all her fails fet and fmooth water, which was furprizing to fee; this fhews that in the working a fhip there lies more in the judgment of the feaman than in the quality of the fhip, by which fhips get bad characters undefervedly. This fhould make every feaman induftrious to acquire the knowledge of working a fhip, which is every material for a feaman to know, and none more ufeful or of greater confequence to himself and thofe about him." 8. 42.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

If our limits would permit, we could with pleafure extract

the defcription given of the fhip Dolphin, on whose charms the writer dwells with the rapture which a lover would feel in expatiating upon thofe of his miftrefs. From the defcription given of this veffel, it is to be lamented that we have not another built on the fame conftruction; and, if his cenfures of the thips of twenty guns, built from that time to the prefent, are juft, there are defects in our dock-yards which all the prudence and wisdom of the admiralty ought to be exerted to remedy.

It is unpleafing to find, that, after fo many years employed in the fervice, and after a variety of dangerous expeditions, Mr. Nichelson should feel any symptoms of diffatisfaction.

• The author, inftead of being rewarded for his faithful and long fervices, has been fufficiently mortified, by feeing junior officers in his line of fervice preferred before him, to places more lu crative than that which he enjoys, which he thinks an hardship, and an inadequate reward for his long fervice: this puts him to the exercife of his Chriftian patience, and verifies the old faying, A man may deferve good fortune or good luck, but cannot command it. Such is the will and pleafure of the great.' P. 270.

We conclude with earneftly recommending this work to the commanders and, conductors of thips in the royal navy, as. well as in the fervice of the merchants. The time of an admiral will not be loft in the perufal of it; and many of the obfervations which it contains might, with advantage to the country, occupy the attention of the lords of the admiralty.

Obfervations on the Structure, Economy, and Difeafes of the Foot of the Horfe, and on the Principles and Practice of Shoeing. By Edward Coleman. Profflor of the Veterinary College, &c. Vol. I. 4to. 12s. Boards. Johnfon. 1798.

AS this work proceeds from an inftitution profeffedly eftablithed for the improvement of the veterinary fcience, it behoves us to examine' very particularly the doctrines which it

contains.

On

The author begins with afferting, that the obfervations which he now fubmits to the public (as a fpecimen of what he has already done, and of what may in future be expected from him) are the fruits of an experience of four years. the application of the principles here laid down, it will remain for the public to decide, whether it would not have been better for the caufe if they had been matured by longer practice. We were forry to obferve that our profeffor follows the track of those who have heretofore written on this now fa

hionable subject, in inveighing with warmth against the igno rance and brutality of former practifers of the art of fhoeing horfes. An improved practice, founded on found principles, does not require the effufions of invective or abuse against the followers of the old method, but is rather injured by fuch behaviour in the opinion of liberal inen. We cannot admit the truth of this indifcriminate imputation of ignorance, as it is probable that many perfons had before made as deep researches into the anatomy of the foot of the horse, as any of the prefent day. Among many inftances which occur to us, we must refcue the memory of Brydges, Ofmer, and Clarke, from this odium; and the labours of Bourgelat and La-foffe, and of many German veterinarians, fhould not pafs unnoticed. That many of those who have practifed fhoeing have been extremely ignorant both of the ftructure of the foot and the principles of the art, we are ready to allow; but all should not be involved in one common cenfure.

[ocr errors]

As no improvements' (the author obferves) have been, or were likely to be made by men laboring under thefe difadvantages,' [want of anatomy and phyfiology] it must be a matter of great exultation to the original founders and fupporters of the veterinary college to be informed, that upwards of eighty pupils have been made acquainted with proper principles, calculated to improve the practice.' P. 6.

We hope that the fuccefs of their practice will juftify the expectations of the public; and we trust that no pupil has obtained a diploma without an attendance of feveral years at the college. In the veterinary schools on the continent, a conftant refidence for three years, or upwards *, has been an effential condition for receiving a permiffion to practise; and no one has obtained a diploma there, whatever his abilities may have been, without fuch a refidence. It has been faid. that young men, bred up in the fhops of provincial apothecaties, have here procured diplomas of competency for practice in a few months, and, thus fortified, have, in fome inftances, had the medical care of the horses of a whole regiment; and, in others, have gone into the country, and, by the novelty of their title and the influence of their diploma, fuperfeded men of long practice. To the court of examiners belong men of high refpectability in medicine and furgery; but we apprehend that they have had too little time for the study of farriery, to enable them to become competent judges in this science. If the above statement be correct (and, if it be not, it ought to be contradicted), we do not yet know whether the

*In France four years, in Denmark three.

public ought to exult at fuch a profufion of diplomatifed practitioners; and, while the profeffor fhall continue to receive a douceur of twenty guineas from each pupil, he will evidently be too much interested in precipitating the examination of the latter. This practice may enrich the profeffor; but it does not tend to enrich the fcience. It is alfo understood, that a fee is paid to the examiners for the diploma. We think the whole of this practice lefs confiftent with the nature of a public and now national establishment *, than that of the veterinary fchools on the continent, where no fees are received, and where the falaries of the profeffors, though liberal, are far from being equal to that of the profeffor of the veterinary college in England.

Mr. Coleman ftates, that the horses belonging to the board of ordnance, and the greater part of the British cavalry, have been fhod to advantage for two years in the manner which he recommends. We thould have been much better pleased, if it had been employed with fuccefs on horfes that are constantly ufed in drawing coaches or drays, and by whofe owners both utility and economy are confulted.

• A proper mode of fhoeing is certainly of more importance than the treatment of any disease, or perhaps of all the diseases in cident to horfes. The foot is a part that we are particularly required. to preferve in health; and if this art be judicioufly employed, the foot will not be more liable to difeafe than any other organ.'

P. 10.

We admit, in its fullest extent, the propriety of the first part of this affertion, but think that the latter cannot be received without fome limitation. In machinery, those parts which are moft ufed, fuffer most friction, and confequently are most liable to decay; and the feet of the horse, being employed in more frequent and fevere labour than any other part of the body of that animal, muft, by parity of reasoning, be moft fubject to injury. Indeed, we are of opinion, that there is no mode of thoeing, however judiciously employed, which will effectually prevent difeafes in the feet in every inftance.

The writer obferves, that, from an erroneous practice of fhoeing, horfes are liable to disease, and that, when they are difeafed, lameness is a frequent confequence.

• If therefore? (he proceeds) it be a fact that the common practice of fhoeing engenders diseases, while the practice here recommended preferves horses' feet in their natural state, then it will

*For fo it must be confidered, as parliament has afforded it pecuniary sup port.

-be admitted that great benefits refult to the public from its general adoption. P. II,

af Few will diffent from the first part of this argument; but as the fecond pofition is at prefent fub judice, the conclufion must not be admitted till the excellence of the practice be fully afcertained.

That the practice' (fays Mr. Coleman) may be faithfully executed in the army, a farrier of each regiment of cavalry has been permitted to attend the college, to learn the practical part of fioeing. This plan was thought neceffary to remove the prejudices of the farriers, and to prevent their oppofition to the principles of fhoeing, recommended at the college, and adopted by the army veterinary furgeons.' P. 11.

No better plan for propagating any fyftem could be devifed; and we doubt not, that, even if this thould not be found to produce all the advantages which are expected from it, the practice will in fome degree be improved by it.-The author's plan is to begin with the ftructure and economy of the

hoof.

We fhall then' (he fays) endeavour to prove that the common practice of fhoeing alters the natural form of the hoof, and produces in it a variety of defects, while the practice here recommended preferves its structure and ufes unimpaired by fhoeing. This fubje&t will form the first volume.' P. 15.

Sect., 1 The natural form, ftructure, and economy of the

horfe's hoof.

Before we confider the best practical mode of preferving the feet of horses by fhoeing, it will be neceffary to defcribe the external form, the structure, and the economy of the hoof.'

P. 17.

The writer fhows that the bottom of the hoof approaches to a circle, and that this form is only to be found in colts which have never been fhod. This form is always changed by the common methods of fhoeing; and he observes, that, nearly in proportion to the repetition of fhoeing, the foot deviates from a circle, and becomes oblong.

Indeed, many feet from this caufe are not one third, and fome not even one fourth, as wide as long. Age however has no effect in changing the form; for we can not only preferve horfes' feet in their natural condition, but, when contracted, reftore them to their original figure. P. 23.

The next fentence is a repetition of the first pofition in different words. Contraction of the feet, thruthes, and corns, are produced by the fame caufe.

As Mr. Coleman, in his progrefs, advances fome ideas

« PreviousContinue »