WEST OF SCOTLAND VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 993 
practice was a mixed practice. He was obliged to study cattle 
pathology, which the more one studied the more one liked, 
because the diseases were not so tardy as those of horses. It 
just wanted a little tact to understand cattle diseases. Any 
sensible man who understood horse pathology would very shortly 
become a good cattle pathologist. He had found in post-mortem 
examinations that he had generally been pretty correct. They had 
often been reproached on account of the very meager education of 
the members of the veterinary profession generally ; but, as in all 
professions, there were in theirs highly educated men ; but sin- 
gularly enough in the veterinary profession there had been a 
majority of men very meagerly educated. This had done much to 
lower the opinion the public should have of veterinary surgeons 
as a class of men to do good to the community. Professor 
'Williams had said, if the examination of students were made by 
the preceptor or the head of any college, or by any one who had 
no connection with the veterinary schools, if they could examine 
upon the four heads laid down by the Royal College of Veteri- 
nary Surgeons, he thought that the test for admittance to any 
training college would in that way be quite severe enough to 
begin with. In a year or two he would go in strongly for pre- 
liminary examination upon Latin and French besides the five final 
tests. He thought it would do much to enhance the position of 
the veterinary profession if they could get well-educated men to 
enter it. They would find the profession respected, not, perhaps, 
equal to the sister profession, but she might very soon creep along- 
side. With respect to the practical examination, no one could say 
anything against it. It was certainly a movement in the right 
direction. Two years was a short time to cram ; but it was aston- 
ishing how much the students acquired in that time. A young lad 
from some academy was sent to a veterinary school, and having 
learned all the theory in two years, he was sent out a clever vete- 
rinary surgeon, perhaps with a medal. That man went into 
practice. A common groom gazed and smiled at him ; for the 
surgeon was practically a nincompoop, although theoretically he 
was very clever. This practical examination, however, would be a 
test that the students knew something of the practice of the pro- 
fession. Perhaps it was difficult to carry out the clinical exami- 
nation of cattle and sheep ; but so far as horses were concerned, 
it was a simple matter. He could not very well see how cattle 
and sheep were to be examined practically, whereas the horse 
was a docile animal, and could be easily examined by forty 
students. Without a practical examination, he held that the 
examination of students was not complete. (Applause.) 
Professor J^PCall, in submitting the toast of “The Council of 
the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons,” said there was no 
toast he could propose with greater pleasure, for he stood in the 
position of having received much kindness from the Council of 
that body. He approached it some years ago for a charter almost 
upon his own personal merits and responsibility. He rejoiced 
