6 
OPENING SPEECHES 
On the evening of the 9th May, a banquet, presided over by Mr. William 
Johnston, was given to Mr. Walter Long and the numerous distinguished guests 
who had come to Liverpool for the opening of the new Laboratories. The Lord 
Mayor of Liverpool, at the request of the Chairman, proposed the toast of the 
Right Hon. Walter Long ; Sir Michael Foster replied to the toast of Science 
and Commerce given by Sir Alfred Jones ; and Dr. Ravenel, Professors Nocard, 
Weigert, and Perroncito replied to the toast of ' Our Foreign Guests ' given by 
Sir John Brunner. The following speeches were delivered by Dr. Ravenel and 
Professors Nocard, Weigert, and Perroncito : — 
Dr. RAVENEL'S REPLY TO THE TOAST 
Mr. Chairman, My Lord Mayor, Mr. Long, and Gentlemen 
In the name of my country I beg to thank Sir John Brunner most heartily 
for the warm terms in which he has spoken of the foreign guests, and especiallv for 
the most flattering references made by him to America, and beg to assure him that 
whatever feeling of being strangers we may have had on our arrival, was quite dispelled 
by the warm welcome accorded to us in his city as well as by his words to-night. 1 
could well wish that the task of representing America had been entrusted to more able 
hands ; 1 trust that I am not one of those guilty of the crime, often charged against 
my countrymen, of squeezing the eagle on every occasion to make him scream his 
loudest. Well, I confess to such faith in my country that I feel that the best we 
have, there is none too good to represent her on any occasion whatsoever. You can 
understand then what my feelings are in being asked to represent her on an occasion 
so memorable as this. Graced by an assembly of men, prominent in all walks of 
life, gathered together in celebration of the opening of laboratories, which I may, with- 
out exaggeration, say give the promise of the opening of a new era in Preventive 
Medicine. I have been asked to give some account of what is done in the United 
States of America ior the cure of diseases of animals in general, and especially of those 
diseases transmissible to man. We have in Washington a central department, under 
the charge of the Secretary of Agriculture, known as the Bureau of Animal Industry, 
now under the able care of Dr. Daniel E. Salmon, a veterinarian of distinction. In this 
department there are the following sub-divisions : — a Laboratory of Bio-Chemistry, 
under the charge of Dr. de Schweinitz, which employs, as a rule, from twelve to 
fifteen men ; a Pathological division, under the charge of Dr. Mohler, with about 
