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BOOK
REVIEWS
Aids
to
Nursing
Small
Animals
and
Birds.
Second
Edition.
Edited
by
J.S.
Heath.
Published
by
Collier
MacMillan
Canada
Ltd.,
Cambridge,
Ontario.
1978.
198
pages.
Price
$8.95.
This
little
book
is
meant
to
be,
and
is,
strictly
a
pocket
reference
book,
to
be
used
by
trainees
and
qualified
animal
nursing
auxil-
iaries.
We
can
stress
immediately
that
it
was
meant
mostly,
if
not
solely,
for
the
use
on
British
soil
and
is
a
good,
a
very
good,
argu-
ment
in
favor
of
the
metric
system.
A
twelve
page
Appendix
is
required
to
explain
the
intricacies
of
the
Apotheticaries
and
Avoir-
dupoids
systems...
All
references
to
standards,
practices,
etc.
apply
only
to
the
British
Isles
and
therefore
limit
greatly
the
usefulness
of
this
book.
Some
recommended
practices
seem
rather
unusual,
such
as
breaking
the
umbilical
cord
of
a
newborn
puppy
between
thumb
and
index
finger
of
both
hands.
In
other
cases,
we
have
noted
some
gross
errors:
placing
ducks
and
geese
among
Gallinaceous
birds,
for
instance.
Many
of
the
recommendations
given
fall
short
of
their
goals:
for
reptiles,
frequent
dis-
infection
is
advised,
using
a
safe
disinfectant,
but
the
book
does
not
list
any
product
known
safe
for
such
use.
Also
many
recommenda-
tions
listed
for
the
environmental
conditions
required
by
exotic
species
(alligator
for
in-
stance)
vary
widely
from
those
published
in
the
UFAW
Handbook.
Some
parts
give
more
details
than
neces-
sary
to
an
animal
nursing
auxiliary
while
some
other
subjects
are
treated
very
quickly.
One
short
quote
will
give
a
general
opinion
of
the
book:
"One
teaspoonful
is
rather
more
a
fluid
drachm
and
rather
less
than
5
ml".
C.
Gardel/.
Vet
in
the
Saddle.
John
L.
Poett:
First
Veteri-
nary
Surgeon
of
the
North
West
Mounted
Police.
Franklin
M.
Loew
and
Edward
H.
Wood.
Published
by
Western
Producer
Prairie
Books,
Saskatoon.
1978.
200
pages.
Price
-
hardcover
$1
1.00,
soft-
cover
$5.95.
Another
redoubtable
Scot
joins
those
illus-
trious
protagonists,
Andrew
Smith
and
Dun-
can
McEachran,
among
the
ranks
of
the
"firsts"
in
Canadian
veterinary
history.
That
John
L.
Poett
is
unkown
to
more
than
a
hand-
ful
of
people
who,
like
Franklin
Loew,
may
have
seen
his
veterinary
certificate
in
the
Bat-
tleford
Historic
Park,
is
a
sad
commentary
on
the
state
of
our
knowledge
about
the
devel-
opment
of
veterinary
medicine.
Only
one
other
history
of
veterinarians
in
the
Canadian
West
has
ever
appeared:
a
slight
volume
on
Alberta
written
by
B.
I.
Love
in
his
later
years
as
a
labour
of
love.
Veterinary
medicine
was
an
important
facet
of
the
Canadian
West.
What
is
perhaps
most
striking
is
that
the
beginnings
of
the
profession
on
the
prairies,
in
contrast
to
the
American
frontier
experience,
were
intima-
tely
associated
with
the
federal
government:
first
when
the
North
West
Mounted
Police
was
formed
in
1873
and
then
with
the
appoint-
ment
of
federal
inspectors
under
the
Conta-
gious
Diseases
Act
of
1879.
Poett
was
not
only
the
first
veterinary
surgeon
appointed
to
the
NWMP,
but
ten
years
later
he
became
the
Department
of
Agriculture's
first
permanent
veterinary
inspector
in
the
Northwest
Territo-
ries.
This
established
the
precedent
of
cross-
appointments
that
was
subsequently
followed
in
the
attempt
to
enforce
quarantine
regula-
tions
for
American
livestock
that
were
cross-
ing
the
border
in
increasing
numbers.
Poett's
place
in
Canadian
veterinary
medi-
cine
derives
from
him
having
been
a
"first"
rather
than
making
a
distinguished
contribu-
tion
to
the
profession
or
to
veterinary
art
-
as
it
was
in
those
days.
In
fact,
his
use
of
carbolic
acid
for
so
many
maladies
lead
the
scouts
and
drivers
in
the
Mountie
camp
to
mockingly
yell
in
unison,
"Fetch
along
de
carbolique;
der's
going
to
be
a
stampede"
(p.
15).
Information
on
his
life
is
admittedly
scanty,
and
the
bio-
graphical
essay
that
forms
less
than
a
quarter
of
this
book
might
better
have
appeared
in
the
pages
of
this
Journal.
The
authors
have
filled
out
the
rest
of
the
volume
with
a
discussion
of
Mountie
saddlery
and
early
veterinary
legisla-
tion
in
the
Territories,
interesting
subjects
that
only
marginally
bear
on
Poett's
career.
Can.
vet.
J.
20:
365-366
(December
1979)
365
The
second
half
of
the
book
contains
append-
ices
of
primary
sources
which
are
worthwhile
particularly
for
the
glimpse
they
afford
of
animal
diseases
and
their
treatment,
but
there
is
too
much
overlap
with
the
main
body
of
the
text.
A
history
of
veterinarians
in
the
NWMP
and
in
the
Territories
generally
prior
to
the
formation
of
provincial
associations
early
in
the
twentieth
century
remains
to
be
written.
In
such
an
account
figures
like
Poett
and
McEachran
will
figure
as
personnae
drama-
tis.
Whoever
assumes
this
project
will
benefit
from
the
pioneering
efforts
of
this
collabora-
tion
between
veterinarion
and
historian.
Based
on
a
critical
assesment
of
previously
neglected
primary
sources,
this
account
is
both
informative
and
readable.
The
descrip-
tion
of
the
2,000
mile
trek
of
the
Mounties
from
North
Dakota
to
Saskatchewan
and
then
back
to
Winnipeg
in
1874
is
fascinating,
especially
for
the
effect
that
it
had
on
horses
unaccustomed
to
conditions
in
the
prairie
west.
I
wonder,
though,
whether
these
mounts,
described
by
Poett
as
diminutive
and
"Canadian",
were
as
the
authors
suggest,
simply
eastern
raised,
or
did
they
belong
to
the
Canadian
breed
which
was
so
popular
in
the
nineteenth
century
for
riding
but
now
reduced
to
only
several
hundred
in
numbers?
This
and
a
host
of
other
questions
remain
to
be
answered
in
a
history
of
veterinary
medi-
cine
in
Western
Canada.
T.
A.
Crouvlei.
NurserY
Care
of
Non-Human
Primates.
Edited
by
Gerald
C.
Ruppenthal
and
Dorothy
J.
Reese.
Published
by
Plenum
Publishing
Company,
New
York.
1979.
333
pages.
Price
$32.50.
This
book
is
the
latest
in
the
series:
Advan-
ces
in
Primathology.
It
is
based
on
the
Pro-
ceedings
of
a
Symposium
on
the
Nursery
Care
of
Non-Human
Primates
held
in
Seattle
in
1977.
As
Proceedings
usually
go,
this
book
is
not
a
manual
for
primate
infant
care
but
pres-
ents
a
wealth
of
information
in
a
number
of
fields.
The
topics
treated
are
varied
and
have
been
grouped
in
sections,
to
achieve
a
more
coher-
ent
volume.
Section
I
deals
with
various
aspects of
pre-
natal
environment.
Section
II
gives
technical
data
on
some
clinical
parameters
such
as
skeletal
maturation,
bilirubin
levels
in
neo-
nates,
etc.
Section
III
gives
information
on
nursery
care
and
management.
Section
IV
is
devoted
to
housing
and
social
development
and
may
well
be
the
most
interesting
part
of
the
book.
Section
V
concentrates
on
less
common
primates
which
can
be
found
in
research
centers
and
zoos.
Obviously
this
book
addresses
itself
to
a
limited
public
but
will
serve
a
very
useful
purpose
in
many
libraries.
C.
Gardell.
RESEARCH
GRANT
APPLICATIONS
INVITED
Applications
are
invited
for
grants
in
aid
of
research
on
animal
disease
in
Canada.
Preferred
application
date
is
by
January
I
for
consideration
in
April
each
year.
For
further
information
contact:
J.R.
Kinney,
Secretarv
Canadian
Veterinary
Research
Trust
Fund
360
Bronson
Avenue
Ottawa,
Ontario
K
I
R
6J3
366