362 Report of the Governors of the Royal Veterinary College. 
I venture to hope that the Academy will consider me justified, 
in consequence of the gravity of existing circumstances, in having 
arrested for some time its attention on this terrible murrain, 
which has been, and which still is, a cause of the greatest losses 
to our agriculture, and which inflicts such grave injuries on the 
public wealtL 
XVII. — Report of the Goverruyrs of the Royal Veterinary College 
to the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society for the year 
1871. 
The Governors of the Royal Veterinary College have the 
pleasure of submitting to the Council of the Royal Agricultural 
Society their Report, for 1871, on the exertions which have been 
made by the College, during the year, to sustain and extend the 
improvements already effected in the application of veterinary 
science to diseases of the animals of the farm. 
Before entering upon any details of this subject, the Governors 
feel that it is due to the memory of their late Principal — 
Professor Spooner — to record their sense of the loss which veteri- 
nary science, as a whole, has sustained by his death. Professor 
Spooner, as the Council is aware, was not especially engaged 
in the direct education of the pupils of the College in the prin- 
ciples of pathology as applied to cattle, sheep, and swine ; yet 
he rendered valuable assistance in this important department 
by supervision and other means. The death of the late Principal 
necessarily led to changes in the staff of the College, and to a 
re-adjustment of the several departments of instruction. 
Professor Simonds has been appointed Principal of the Col- 
lege. His supervision will embrace education in the pathology 
of the horse ; but without lessening the amount of instruction on 
the nature and treatment of the diseases of other animals. In 
order to secure due attention to the instruction given in the 
treatment of animals other than the horse, the Governors have 
appointed Professor Brown, of whose capability in this branch 
of veterinary medicine no doubt can reasonably be entertained. 
The Governors have also made material additions to the 
curriculum of the College, and have established a summer 
session, in addition to that hitherto held during the winter. To 
meet the requirements of this change, additional instructors have 
been engaged, and the Governors trust that the College has now 
one of the most complete and efficient staff of teachers to be 
found either in this country or abroad. These alterations and 
improvements are fully in accordance with the understanding 
arrived at between the two institutions, and the Governors are 
