VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
963 
by Mr. William Youatt, a well-known author and an esteemed veterinarian. 
It lias been discontinued now for many years. Upwards of forty years ago 
a school was established in Edinburgh by Mr. William Dick, which is still 
extensively patronised. And a few years ago a school was opened in 
Glasgow, which is efficiently taught by Prof. M‘Call and assistants. The 
veterinary pupils, many years ago, were generally composed of young men 
of inferior education, and of the standing of working mechanics ; but as 
more proficiency came to be required of them, and better remuneration 
given them for their services, — and as, moreover, through the influence 
principally of Prof. Coleman, a veterinary surgeon’s pay in the army was 
considerably increased, and his status correspondingly raised, a superior 
set of students gradually drew towards the College ; and before they can 
now obtain a diploma, they must submit to a strict and successful examina- 
tion on anatomy, physiology, chemistry, materia medica, and pharmacy. 
The diseases of the lower animals are not so numerous nor so compli- 
cated as those of the human being ; and the medicines employed are com- 
paratively few and simple. This, I should say, is more applicable in the 
past tense, for the medical profession, in their prescriptions, are curtailing 
very much both the variety and quantity of their drugs. The preparatory 
period for study might very profitably be extended ; but I would ask, is 
that period always judiciously employed ? The practical knowledge and 
powers of exposition of the professors are undoubted, and it is to be hoped 
that they require the steady attendance of the pupils at the lectures, in the 
dissecting room, and in the practical department among the patients. 
Having given a hurried, and I fear imperfect sketch of the rise and progress 
of the veterinary art, you will, I trust, permit me to address a few sentences 
to you as students and prospective veterinary surgeons. You will be en- 
gaged in a responsible calling. The pecuniary interests of the agricultural 
class, and other owners of domestic animals, are largely involved in your 
scientific capabilities and, I may add, moral qualities. You may acquit your- 
selves well, and pass with credit the Board of Examiners, with little more 
than theoretical knowledge. A good memory and diligence as book students, 
with but a scant application of the dissecting knife and personal observation 
of hospital practice, may have carried you through the ordeal of examination, 
but such knowledge, when put to the test, leaves its possessor sadly de- 
ficient. Be his merits never so indisputable, the man who receives with a 
beaming countenance and thankful heart his diploma, and thinks he can strut 
abroad as a proficient, is very much mistaken. He has learned only the 
bare rudiments of his profession whatever his application may have been. 
His vanity, self-sufficiency, and confident air will become less and less as he 
advances in knowledge and experience. If he is a man worthy of the pro- 
fession — worthy of trust in a general sense — he will day by day be a diligent 
student ; and, after all, he will find his judgment often at fault. Although 
veterinarians have not the same opportunities as medical men of detecting 
internal disease in their mute patients, they enjoy advantages, if taken, 
which the others do not, in the free and unfettered opportunity afforded 
them of making post-mortem examinations, and in dissections generally. To 
avail one’s self of such privileges is not more profitable than pleasant. It 
is, moreover, but doing homage to a natural impulse. As the poet says — 
“ Give e’en a dunce Hie employment he desires, 
And he soon finds the talents he requires j 
A business with an income at its heels, 
Furnishes always oil for its own wheels.” 
Memory and impressions, be it further remarked, are not to be trusted 
alone. Facts and observations should be carefully recorded for future 
