302 THE EIGHTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE 
The Chairman, in opening the proceedings of the meeting, 
stated, that he had been placed in the position which he occu- 
pied in consequence of the continued illness of Mr. Thomas 
Turner, whose resignation was some months ago tendered to 
and accepted by the Council ; he (the Chairman) having been 
elected to the vacant office for the present year. 
The Secretary then read the following Abstract of the Pro- 
ceedings of the Council during the year 1850-1. 
“ The Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 
in this their Seventh Annual Report, have much pleasure in 
being able to congratulate the profession on its improved pros- 
pects ; as, with a single exception, all parties are strenuously 
exerting themselves for the promotion of its best interests and 
welfare. This improved state of things, happily, does not re- 
quire from your Council a report in the analytical and discursive 
form of those which have preceded it ; and a brief abstract of 
their proceedings is all which they have to lay before you, now 
that the differences of opinion, divisions of interests, and diver- 
sities of action, hitherto existing, are nearly passed away. 
“ Last year, and for the first time since the obtainmentof the 
Charter, the chair was not taken at the annual meeting by the 
President of the College; long-continued illness, much and 
deeply regretted by all who knew him, kept him from us : it 
was hoped that his restoration to health would be both speedy 
and complete, and therefore he was again elected to the chair. 
Partial restoration enabled him to attend occasionally the meet- 
ings of the Council, but only for a time; and it was too evident, 
although he energetically endeavoured to perform the require- 
ments of the office, that his strength was unequal to the task. 
Your Council had to receive with regret his resignation, and 
they lost no time in offering him their condolence, and in ten- 
dering him their heartfelt thanks for the manner he had dis- 
charged the onerous duties of the Presidentship. Mr. Robinson 
was chosen as his successor ; a gentleman who has proved his 
fitness for the office, and realized the most sanguine expecta- 
tions of your Council. 
“ The new code of Bye-laws, the preparation of which was 
announced last year, has been issued ; the high legal opinions of 
Sir John Jarvis, Sir Frederick Thessiger, and Mr. Jago, then 
alluded to as about to be taken, have been obtained ; and every 
effort has been made to secure the correctness of the laws in 
accordance with the provisions of the Charter, and to render 
them strictly applicable to the exigencies of the profession. 
“ The proceedings of your Council, hitherto irregularly pub- 
lished, and therefore not fully and generally known to the body 
at large, are now officially reported in the Veterinary Journal. 
