STATE VETERINARY SCHOOLS. 417 



men in the whole world, who can be had at any price, to furnish 

 teachers enough for two new and thoroughly organized veterinary- 

 schools. In fact, even for one national school, we shall find it hard 

 to procure the requisite number of scientifically educated and com- 

 petent teachers. I have scarcely seen a veterinarian in this country 

 whom I would call to fill a chair in a veterinary school. There are some 

 who are well enough practically, but when we come to seek the scien- 

 tific foundation, united with a healthy skepticism (by that I mean a 

 critical mind, and with ability for original research, united to the great- 

 est necessity of all, ability to teach), we shall find it hard to discover 

 enough English-speaking men the world over suitable to our purposes. 

 It has suddenly dawned upon some people in power in this coun- 

 try that veterinarians are necessary. In one State, at least, they are 

 already preparing a mill for grinding them out even faster than 

 they do doctors in the medical mills. This unenviable State is Iowa. 

 There they propose a State school which shall turn out graduates 

 after eighteen months' study. " These graduates must be eighteen 

 years of age, and have completed the entire coturse of study P To 

 illustrate how much these Solons know, and to prove my assertion 

 that but few, if any, legislators in this country are at present suffi- 

 ciently instructed upon this subject to legislate properly, we are in- 

 formed that the " sessions begin the first of March (each year) and 

 continue till the latter part of November, with a vacation of two 

 weeks in July." If one is to judge from the above, the students 

 are either not to study any anatomy, or the laws of Nature are 

 different in Iowa from other places in the same latitude, for every- 

 where else the time especially devoted to the study of anatomy is 

 between November and March ; but here we see the school does 

 not continue in operation between November and March, or per- 

 haps these are hot months in Iowa, and putrefaction, etc., prevent 

 the students studying anatomy, so that it is studied in the months 

 between March and November, excepting two weeks in July, 

 when the students are probably dismissed on account of the ex- 

 tremely cold weather. The published " curriculum " of this school, 

 which appeared in a pamphlet called the " College Quarterly," is 

 one of the most amusing yet saddening proofs of human imbecil- 

 ity it has ever been my lot to read. This school was to be opened 

 March, 1880, yet in September, 1879, the writer of this " curricu- 

 lum" uses the present tense, and tells us what the future stu- 

 dents are already doing; among other things, "hundreds of ani- 

 mals are presented at the hospital for examinations " held at the 

 school " one half day each week." 

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