650 
PRESENTATION TO PROFESSOR WILLIAMS. 
To aspire to the honorable and onerous position of principal of 
the Edinburgh Veterinary College — to be a successor to such a one 
as the late Professor Dick — is an ambition worthy of the most 
talented within the pale of the profession, and requires an amount 
of tact and talent possessed by few, and to succeed in it cannot fail 
to bring around one the envy, and perhaps the hatred, of the un- 
successful and interested ; hence the troubles and vexations of such 
an exalted position. He has had much to battle against, many con- 
flicting interests to encounter, and much to do to keep up with the 
go-a-head bustling of the age ; but we rejoice that lie has accom- 
plished all, and that we can and do recognise him as one whose 
motto is “ onward and upward” — one who commands respect, has 
never belied his trust, and, when viewed as an enlightened hippo- 
pathologist and practitioner, is second to none of the day. 
We occasionally see, in what might be considered high quarters, 
an abortive attempt at detraction from this the Scottish school of 
veterinary medicine, and an ill-timed stab at the memory of him 
who so ably founded and so nobly endowed it ; but such attempts 
only recoil on the head of their authors, and but support the fact 
so patent to all, that the Edinburgh school will compare favorably 
with any at present existing, either as to its pathological teaching 
and practice, or as to the number of distinguished alumni who have 
issued from its portals. Only some few months ago we could men- 
tion the names of Williams, Strangeways, Dalzell, and Young, each 
unique in their own special wake, and say that one might take his 
place in the centre of that quadrilateral, and challenge ^competition 
with the world. 
But alas! for the stability of all earthly institutions. Two of 
these have gone for ever from amongst us, and it is superfluous to 
say how deeply and truly we feel their loss. 
To harmonise practice with science is the great desideratum of 
the present age ; its conflicting teachings may sometimes almost 
overpower us ; but we are glad to be able to say that in your teaching 
and practice, sir, the reconciliation has arrived at a stage till lately 
only dreamed of. Need I remind you, gentlemen, of the successful 
application of advanced pathological knowledge to the cure of chest 
affections, the development of the physiological phenomena of broken 
wind, the minute microscopical observations on the pathological 
process of anchylosis — in short, the whole course of pathological 
lectures, never before equalled — certainly never excelled — which 
has been delivered by Professor Williams in this College. 
These advances and contributions to veterinary pathology, as well 
as their successful application, warrant us in saying that in you, 
sir, veterinary science has found one whose name will be found 
high in its archives when its history comes to be written. True, 
gentlemen, I cannot point to you our professor’s literary produc- 
tions, the arduous nature of his duties having hitherto apparently 
prevented his giving time and labour to book-writing; but I doubt 
not, as time moves on, and he’feels more at ease in his irksome sur- 
