588 
THE VETERINARIAN, OCTOBER 1, 1854. 
ADDRESS TO THE STUDENTS. 
The hard, dry facts of life constitute the ordinary texture 
of our Leading Articles : for once in the year, then, let us 
cry “jam satis ” and devote a few columns to reflections of a 
different nature. By thinking too much of external circum- 
stances, we are apt to lose sight of the internal man ; but the 
latter is, after all, the great consideration. 
On commencing his studies, the pupil should be impressed 
with the conviction that there are few more difficult than 
those in which he is about to engage. He must not suppose 
that the practice of medicine is a mere empirical art, or a 
slight matter of routine, like the trade of a watchmaker. He 
is commencing a pursuit in which talent will find the amplest 
scope for its development, over which the spirit of change 
and progress sits brooding, and wherein original research 
will meet with a rich recompense. 
In no other practical art is the exercise of independent 
judgment more required. Every case is a problem, presenting 
some obscure point for solution. It either embodies anew an 
old difficulty, or offers some fresh point of its own, which 
must be answered. How? and Why? are everlasting questions 
in medical practice. I do not envy the man who can be con- 
tent with asking himself a question — letting a glimpse of light 
into his mind, and straightway shutting it out as a trouble- 
some intruder. Such a man allow r s his intellect to be 
converted into a black hole, hung round with moss and 
cobwebs, where Truth perishes for want of exercise and 
airing. Open the windows, let in the light, let the palace 
be gloriously furnished, and every unclean thing be swept 
from its dark corners. 
The wiser men of the profession, knowing its difficulties, 
and duly appreciating its solemn responsibilities, have largely 
extended the course of study, in order that the young prac- 
titioner might be sufficiently qualified for his important 
practical duties. Hence botany, chemistry, comparative 
anatomy, moral philosophy, and various other branches of 
