The man that first enters the stable should be able to administer to the wants of the mare and the foal. There is no time to be lost--no time now to obtain information, or to proceed four or five miles for a surgeon. If all is right, in five minutes all will be well, but if a false position is presented, the first person that approaches the animal should be able to administer to the wants of the mare and foal. If not, there is much danger for the life of the foal, and in a few hours much danger is to be feared for the safety of the mare. I have had a very extensive practice in the veterinary business for more than nineteen years, and found it almost universally to be the case, that in the event of mal-presentation, the foal had suffocated before I could reach the spot, although I was but a very few miles distant. If the foal is raised from its locality, it must be exposed to the free atmosphere in twenty minutes or it will suffocate, and the life of the mare will be much in danger. Often, after I had extracted the foal, I could have obtained twenty dollars for restoring its life. I have frequently been urged by farmers and breeders, to give them full instructions on this subject, and especially, at such times, when a difficult case presented itself, but I always found it impracticable, as verbal instruction would soon be forgotten, and as no work, illustrating this subject was in existence. I was induced, therefore, in order to benefit the farmer and breeder, to publish a complete treatise on the mare and foal, at the time of delivery, illustrated by engravings. I had made an effort about seven years ago, but that little instrument, the “pen,” in my hand, is what the yoke is to the ox, and so I abandoned it for that time. The cart-whip in my hand is a fine instrument, but the pen is my abhorrence. Notwithstanding, at the earnest request of numerous dealers in horses, I was induced in the Spring of 1869, to offer this work to the public, for the benefit of the farmer and breeder, and in mercy to the mare and foal. This work, as the reader will discover, embraces every particular connected with the subject upon which it treats, with ample engravings, illustrating the different positions in which a foal is presented--its natural delivery--false presentations, etc., with lucid explanations and instructions. CONRAD MITCHELL. New Berlin, Pa., July, 1869. [Illustration: PLATE I.]