| Item Description: | Michael Laird, bookseller, description: Five pages of receipts loosely inserted. Manuscript on paper in brown ink, flowing cursive, the name of the author and place of compilation are noted on the final pastedown. Bound in contemporary sheep backed marbled boards; worn, joints quite loose. Preserved in protective cloth case. Unpublished autograph manuscript by a "well-known veterinarian" who -- incredibly -- encourages owners of horses to avoid local veterinarians and use "real" medical doctors instead. Written in the first person, this is a very interesting treatise on the medical treatment of diseases of horses, usefully arranged by subject and symptoms. These notes were compiled by the author from his own personal experience, augmented by years of research. Patrick W. Boylen (1836-1892), of Irish origin, emigrated to Steuben County, NY and took up practice in Corning. He offers advice on treating a wide variety of disorders, from the mouth and nose, to bowels, and even management of bloody urine. Included are also suggested treatments for cough, influenza, and swollen legs. In one section Boylen describes how to perform a tracheotomy. To each section Boylen adds prescriptions for treating various aliments and illnesses. Boylen declares his frustration with the "treatment" of horses performed by veterinary doctors of the day. He blames the poor state of the practice on the "most ignorant class such as stage [coach] drivers and stallions Gromers (sic)." He then suggests that one should take the horse to the nearest physician instead of the nearest veterinarian because "the diseases of horses and men are almost exactly alike." On Boylen, see his obituary in the "Rochester Democrat and Chronicle," 9 March 1892, p. 5. |
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