THE HIGHLAND AND AGEICULTURAL SOCIETY. 141 



found qualified to practice, and received diplomas, of these eleven 

 were English, five Scotch, and one Irish. Every one present felt 

 highly gratified at the practical knowledge displayed by the 

 different candidates, and a hope was cherished that at no very 

 distant day the science of veterinary medicine would not only 

 take its proper place amongst the other sciences, and be placed 

 on a footing with them, but that it would be cultivated by those 

 who would tend to advance it in the rapid tide of improvement. 



T'wenty-tliird Session, 1845-46. 



The number of students attending the College this session 

 was sixty-six. Amongst them were iodividuals from England 

 Ireland, Norway, and Eussia. The examinations at the close 

 of the session took place on the 27th April, and were con- 

 ducted by the Board appointed by the Council of the'Eoyal 

 College of Veterinary Surgeons. There was also a large attend- 

 ance of influential members of the Society. Twenty-four gentle- 

 men were found qualified, and received diplomas, sixteen of 

 these were Scotch, six English, and two Irish. The students 

 continued to enjoy the benefit of witnessing and assisting in an 

 extensive practice. During the year 1845, 3543 cases were 

 treated under the immediate inspection of the students, and 

 ample opportunities afforded them of performing the different 

 operations which most frequently occur. The Professors of 

 Agriculture and Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh kindly 

 gave at this time gratuitous admission to their classes to the 

 practical students of the College. 



The Chairman (Dr Mercer) concluded the examinations with 

 a short address to the numerous gentlemen assembled, and after 

 alluding to the great talent displayed by the different candidates 

 in their examinations, noticed especially the decided improve- 

 ment that had taken place this year in the attention that had 

 been devoted to the cultivation of practical comparative anatomy, 

 and observed that, owing to the opportunities for the acquire- 

 ment of such at the College, Edinburgh stood pre-eminent over 

 all other veterinary schools in the country for obtaining a 

 practical knowledge of the veterinary art. 



Twenty-foiLrth Session, 1846-47. 



In reporting on the state of the College during the twenty- 

 fourth session, Mr Burn Murdoch, the Chairman of the Society's 

 Veterinary Committee, mentioned, at the General Meeting in 

 June 1847, that, owing to the mode in which the exami- 

 nation of the students was now conducted, he had neither 

 attended himself nor requested his Committee to do so, because 



