PROCEEDINGS AT GENERAL MEETINGS. 85 



College, and also acting in conjunction with other public bodies in that city and 

 elsewhere, and with a large number of the veterinary surgeons in Scotland, they 

 had made an application to Government asking them to institute a Royal Veter- 

 inary College, not connected specially with Edinburgh, but to hold the same posi- 

 tion which the Veterinary College in England did, and to give diplomas, degrees, 

 and certificates to students attending any veterinary establishment where suitable 

 education was given. He was sorry to say that hitherto their efforts had not been 

 attended, with success. The last letter which had been received from the Board 

 of Trade on the subject, which was addressed to their London agent, was dated 

 15th May, and was as follows : — 



"Council Office, May 15, 1868. 



"Sir, — I am directed by the Lords of the Council to inform you that their 

 Lordships have had under their consideration the petition lodged by you at this 

 office on behalf of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, and of the 

 trustees of the late Professor Dick, praying for the grant of a charter of incorpora- 

 tion to the Royal Veterinary College of Scotland, and I am to state that their 

 Lordships, after mature deliberation, find themselves unable to recommend Her 

 Majesty to grant the charter prayed for. — I am, &c. 



(Signed) ' ' Arthue Helps. " 



John Graham, Esq., 3 Westminster Street. 



That answer evidently proceeded on a misapprehension, because it refused a prayer 

 for a charter of incorporation to the Royal Veterinary College in Scotland, while 

 there was no such body in Scotland. They seemed to be confounding the College, 

 the establishment of which they asked for, with the school of veterinary medicine 

 which existed in Edinburgh. He hoped, therefore, they might still hold out some 

 expectation that when that mistake was properly explained their just demands in 

 that matter for Scotland would receive greater consideration from the authorities 

 in England than they had hitherto met with. Probably the Society would be 

 willing to remit the matter to the Directors, knowing as they did what zealous 

 friends they had in their noble President and in members of both Houses of Par- 

 liament, who were anxious still to take that matter up and press it on the atten- 

 tion of the Government. 



The Duke of Buccleuch said that the letter which had just been read by Mr 

 Swinton showed that there must be some misapprehension of the object of the 

 Society in asking for this charter. No reason had been assigned for the refusal, 

 and he thought they had therefore a very good right to press the matter still 

 further, and ascertain really what was the objection to granting a charter to a 

 Veterinary College in Scotland. He knew, from what he heard last year, that 

 there was an excessive amount of jealousy in certain quarters against the estab- 

 lishment of a Veterinary College in Scotland. They had an idea that a Veterinary 

 College in England was the only one that ought to be supported, and that every 

 person must go to London to get his diploma. He would like to know how they 

 would have been if there had been no Royal College of Surgeons or Physicians in 

 Scotland. He was not one who felt at all inclined to yield to pressure of that 

 sort ; and when he went to London he would make it his duty to endeavour to 

 ascertain the grounds upon which this refusal was based, and, if possible, to pro- 

 cure the publication of any documents upon the subject, by moving for all the 

 correspondence which had taken place between the Board of Trade and that 

 Society, and all other public bodies upon the subject. He thought they should 

 still press it strongly upon the attention of the Board of Trade. 



The matter was remitted to the Directors to take steps for bringing the matter 

 anew before the consideration of the Board of Trade. 



Transactions. — Mr Irvine of Drum laid on the table No. III. of the Fourth 

 Series of the Transactions. 



Premiums. — Mr Irvine of Drum then read the list of premiums awarded for 

 reports. 



Chemical Department. — Dr Anderson reported that the laboratory work 

 had been very arduous during the last half-year. The number of analyses had 

 very materially exceeded that of any previous half-year, and the results which 

 had been obtained from them were in many respects extremely important to the 

 agriculturist. This year the number of inferior manures in the market was very 

 considerable, and these were very often sold under names to which they were not 



