VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 445 



view. At the General Meeting of the Society in June 

 1823, a sum of £^0 was placed at the disposal of the 

 Directors, for the purpose of furthering, for that year, in- 

 struction in veterinar}^ science. The committee came to 

 terms with Mr Dick, and that gentleman, ' furnished with 

 a forge and other appendages for the practical instruction 

 of country farriers, accordingly began his first course of 

 lectures on the diseases of horses, black cattle, sheep, and 

 other domestic animals, illustrated by the necessary ana- 

 tomical demonstrations.' 



Mr Dick's lectures continued to be well attended, and 

 an annual sum — in 1824 ^^30, and in subsequent years 

 twenty-five guineas — was regularly granted to the veteri- 

 nary lecturer or professor. The first public examination of 

 students was on 23rd April 1828, and was conducted by 

 six eminent medical practitioners of Edinburgh, and 

 resulted in a certificate being conferred on seven students. 

 The certificate set forth that it was granted by the exa- 

 miners, who had been present at the examination of the 

 students of Mr Dick in the veterinary school, under the 

 patronage of the Highland Society of Scotland, and that 

 the person receiving the certificate was considered ' qualified 

 to practise the veterinary art.' The school prospered, and 

 in 1838 an application, made by the Society, to obtain a 

 recognition of the eligibility of the graduates for commis- 

 sions as veterinary surgeons in the Queen's army, and in 

 the army of the East India Company, was successful, 

 through the exertions of the late Duke of Sutherland, then 

 President of the Society. In 1839, on a petition from the 

 students, forty-five in number, the titles of College and 

 Professor were conferred on the school and lecturer. The 

 examinations at the college were continued without inter- 

 ruption till 1844. In that year, there was granted to the 

 Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, London, a charter 

 investing that body with the sole right to confer diplomas 

 on persons to be distinguished as veterinary surgeons. 

 Mr Dick had, without the knowledge of the Society, 

 signed a petition in favour of the granting of that charter. 

 The Society remonstrated with the Government against 



