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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 876 



attempted to apply the knowledge I sup- 

 posed they possessed, in the actual practise 

 of their profession. Their errors were not 

 more grievous than those of other men, but 

 the things they did and the kind of assist- 

 ance they sought pointed clearly to a lack 

 of knowledge or understanding at least of 

 the subjects which I believed I had taught 

 with great clearness. This experience has 

 caused me to question the efSciency of 

 many pedagogical methods and to test as 

 best I could different systems of instruction 

 in my own department. The conclusion 

 that seems to be inevitable from the experi- 

 ence of the past is that for the best results 

 the courses in a veterinary curriculum 

 must be dominated by a scientific system of 

 presentation and that the technique, facts 

 and laws of chemistry, anatomy, physiol- 

 ogy, bacteriology, pathology, medicine and 

 surgery must be clearly developed before 

 stress can be placed upon the value of frag- 

 mentary facts. The difficulty rests not 

 alone in a lack of the knowledge of tech- 

 nique, but quite as much in the inability to 

 apply the principles and to interpret the 

 findings. If veterinary medicine is to 

 benefit the public as it should, it is impor- 

 tant that those responsible for the training 

 of men who are to apply the knowledge in 

 practise take fully into account the nature 

 of their teaching. Wherever the true sci- 

 entific spirit dominates the final results 

 prove to be most helpful. It is not my 

 purpose, nor do I believe it is possible, to 

 outline a schedule to be followed by all. 

 It is, however, within our power to give to 

 veterinary medicine the dignity commen- 

 surate with its economic and vital relations 

 to the live-stock interests of the country 

 and to teach it as a group of correlated 

 sciences and not as an aggregation of dis- 

 connected facts. 



During the last quarter of a century a 

 great revolution has taken place in matters 



educational, and the period of readjust- 

 ment is upon us. The problem as pre- 

 sented to us by the rapid bursting forth of 

 enormous numbers of facts and new meth- 

 ods is easily stated. How can young men 

 be fitted for their profession for $125 a 

 year when it actually costs from three to 

 four times as much to provide the necessary 

 instruction ? This is a problem that almost 

 chills our enthusiasm. It is so sudden, so 

 contrary to precedent, so unreasonable 

 from our accustomed point of view, that 

 there is an inclination to dispute it. How- 

 ever, as science can not rise above natural 

 law but must work through it, so veteri- 

 nary education can not depart from the 

 laws that govern higher education, but 

 must follow them. If the veterinary pro- 

 fession attains its rightful place among the 

 learned professions it must, like the others, 

 adjust itself to the requirements of the 

 times. We are engaged in professional 

 work, not selfish enterprise. The same 

 problem confronts human medicine, and 

 our deliverance is equally as hopeful as 

 that of the sister profession. 



Those who have sought for a remedy 

 have found but two solutions to the perplex- 

 ing problem, namely, the endowment of 

 our schools, either directly or by afiiliation 

 with universities or by state assistance. 

 In the United States and Canada private 

 endowments for veterinary schools are not 

 numerous. If the wealthy are not dis- 

 posed to aid this cause, why can not the 

 members of the profession itself form active 

 alumni associations for the purpose of 

 raising funds to make it possible for their 

 own schools to obtain the necessary finan- 

 cial support ? Such a scheme is already in 

 operation in several of our largest univer- 

 sities, and I see no reason why it should 

 not work with veterinary colleges. So long 

 as satisfactory technical education can not 

 be obtained for the fees which most stu- 



