PREFACE.
This Essay was written for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty. That it ranks among the rejected ones, the Author has no right or inclination to complain ; but in justice to his kind friends, from whom he derived such material assistance, and feeling that the practical ground which he ventured to take is a most important one, perhaps the most important of all, and could only be advantageously occupied by a member of his too-under-valued profession, he has been induced to submit this little book to the consideration of the Public.
He will rejoice, and that feeling will be shared by every competitor, if the noble purposes of the Society are in the least degree promoted by it.
