768 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
of others ; however good and complete the hook may he, it 
can only be a good guide for your own research, a useful 
model by which to shape the fashion of your own thoughts. 
Many students read too much and think too little ; accept 
the ipse dixit of the author unquestioned, and allow what is 
set forth in the book to supersede their own reason and even 
observation ; to do this is to resign the independence of your 
intellect, to openly expose yourself to the many chances of 
error, and to tempt an indolence which would have a baneful 
influence on the remainder of your life. Much of this is 
also true of lectures ; the lecturer should be to you a pioneer ; 
what a guide is to a traveller in a difficult mountain pass. 
Never forget that it is by your own independent labour, 
assisted by these auxiliaries, that you must improve your mind. 
Dissection as a means of obtaining a knowledge of anatomy 
and physiology is absolutely necessary. You must educate 
the eye, make the mind comprehend the appearances pre- 
sented by the different constituents of the animal body, if you 
are to learn anatomy ; and it is only by dissection that this 
can he accomplished. Always be careful and neat in prose- 
cuting dissection ; if you do but little, do that little well ; 
you will then gradually acquire a liking for it, and what per- 
haps at first may appear irksome to you, will gradually create 
an interest the indulgence of which will prove to be plea- 
surable. 
I come now to speak of, as a means of learning your pro- 
fession, careful observation of health and disease in the 
infirmary, and during the examination of horses as to sound- 
ness : in this respect you will have grand opportunities ; the 
college possesses a large infirmary, nearly always filled with 
patients, and the horses for examination amount to thousands 
in the course of a year. These, I repeat, are no mean advan- 
tages ; would that I could persuade you, one and all, to 
make the most of them. I speak thus because I know, and 
my colleagues all know, that the students, as a rule, do not 
possess themselves of that practical efficiency which they have 
ample opportunity here of gaining. We are often told by 
our professional brethren that our students are not practically 
taught, and some do not hesitate to attribute this to a want 
of system on our part ! I stand here and tell you, gentlemen, 
that whether you gain practical knowledge here or not de- 
pends upon your own industry. Could I possess you now 
with a feeling of that responsibility you will experience the 
first twelvemonths after obtaining your diplomas and getting 
into business for yourselves, you would, during your pupilage, 
make as much progress in the practical part of the profession 
