826 TUITION IN OUR VETERINARY SCHOOLS. 
paper, which I hope will be taken in as liberal a spirit as was 
asked for the original paper. Firstly, I must acknowledge that 
I am acquainted only with the working of the London College, 
and to which I take it that Mr. Fearnley’s remarks apply, as 
his paper is published in the journal conducted by gentlemen 
principally connected with that school. The writer states 
that when he was a student he sat dumb for four or Jive hours 
a day . 1 don’t deny it ; but he should speak of the present, 
not the past. He will find that the time occupied in the 
delivery of lectures at the Royal Veterinary College never 
arrives at the minimum limit he states, as not more than three 
and a half hours are so occupied on one day. As a rule, six- 
teen hours per week are thus occupied, which is an average of 
considerably less than three hours per day. Again, during, 
the time I have been at College I have never once seen a 
teacher read written matter to the pupils ; and while admitting 
that some portions of a lecture are necessarily referred to 
other sources, so as to render the subject complete, we must 
allow that men who have spent their whole lives in the 
acquirement of their profession have unquestionably adduced 
new facts. I deny that such sources are accessible to the 
students , as it is impossible for them to have equal opportuni- 
ties with those of the professors. 
I consider that whatever a student reads, never can it he 
so indelibly impressed in his memory as when well conveyed 
and demonstrated by a practised teacher. Further, we cannot 
obtain everything they can tell us printed legibly and intel- 
ligibly in our text-books. 
I quite agree with the writer that every man should be 
practically educated, and I likewise coincide with his other 
remarks upon this point ; but I cannot reconcile to my mind 
the statement that lecturers acknowledge that it is a farce 
they are actors in , &c., indeed I have heard lecturers of great 
experience state that it is the best way of teaching, espe- 
cially when combined with periodical examinations, to test 
the progress of the pupil. 
The writer acknowledges that lectures on anatomy and 
chemistry are demonstrated, and those on pathology, aided by 
morbid specimens and clinical instruction ; nevertheless he 
speaks of knowledge as being of little use to medical men 
unless it renders them capable of performing certain duties, 
as though it were otherwise perfectly useless, yet shortly after- 
wards he affirms that students should have more time to spend 
in the sick-box and dissecting-room. 
It would certainly be better if the teacher could be with 
the pupils in these places ; but it is an impossibility to get, 
