996 west or Scotland veterinary medical association. 
and to inaugurate veterinary associations in every county in the 
three kingdoms. (Applause.) 
Mr. Greaves responded as follows : — Veterinary medical asso- 
ciations have become an institution throughout the land during 
the last ten years. Their objects are chiefly twofold, viz., to 
change a spirit of antagonistic conduct into legitimate laudable 
conduct. We are living in an age when society cannot and will 
not respect the man who aspires to raise himself into a position by 
constantly trying to pull down the character of his fellow-man by 
speaking disparagingly of him behind his back. This line of con- 
duct always provokes vindictive reprisals, and is most discredit- 
able to members of an enlightened and educated profession. 
Can any man appear in a more contemptible character than that 
of continually sneering at and casting ridicule on a professional 
brother behind his back ? No. By meeting face to face in these 
societies, and being in each other’s company for two hours at a 
time every three months, there must be engendered a better 
acquaintance with each other. There must follow a less desire to 
injure the other’s good name. Thus, by living more in peace 
with a neighbouring practitioner, you are contributing not a 
little to your own peace of mind and social comfort. But this is 
not all ; you cannot attend these meetings without becoming more 
familiar with and gaining more extensive views of your pro- 
fession. You gain knowledge from a number of individuals’ ex- 
perience. There are no other such facilities for gaining useful and 
practical knowledge in existence as these societies afford if they 
are only carried out in the right spirit. They must make us 
individually better practitioners, and also more useful members 
of society at large. As such I commend them to you with all my 
strength. Oh ! how much I wish you could hit upon some plan 
which would overcome that shameful apathy, and rouse the pro- 
fession to see its own interests in this respect. Thanking Mr. 
Robinson for his kind remarks, and you, gentlemen, for having 
made me an honorary member of your association, I shall now 
resume my seat. 
The Croupier , in proposing the “Veterinary Benevolent Asso- 
ciation,” observed that it was at present in its infancy. When 
they took into consideration the benefits that were to be derived 
from this association, he thought that they would admit it de- 
served a place in the list of their toasts. They had with them a 
gentlemen who had taken a most marked interest in this society 
not only by his personal exertions, but in a pecuniary point of 
view. (Hear, hear). He thought he was not wrong in stating 
that Mr. Greaves was about to, or would leave to this association 
the sum of £1000. He (the Croupier) had been absent from 
England and Scotland for a long time, but from what he could 
recollect of reading in the deserts of the East, he thought he had 
seen that Mr. Greaves had volunteered to make a gift to that 
amount to this association. At present the association was, if 
he might so term it, in embryo. They were about to gather a 
