418 
MISCELLANEA. 
troubled you with these remarks on such statements ; feeling per- 
fectly assured that so long as the courses of instruction are taught 
in the same efficient manner as they have been and are at present, 
that the examinations shall be conducted as they were, and that the 
same general interest shall be taken in the advancement of the 
veterinary science which has so long been shewn in Edinburgh, 
the Edinburgh Veterinary College may be estimated and held in 
every respect as being fully equal to the St. Pancras School, 
London. 
Trusting to be favoured with space for the above, 1 have the 
honour to remain, 
Sir, your’s, &c., 
Jas. Mercer, M.D., F.R.C.S.E., 
Lecturer on Anatomy, &e., and Member of the 
Edinburgh Veterinary Examining Board. 
50, Northumberland- street, 
Edinburgh, June 4. 
To the Editor of “ The Veterinarian .” 
Sir, — ALLOW me, through the medium of your Journal, for the 
profession, to state my opinions respecting the system of education 
adopted at the Royal Veterinary College, so that they may meet 
the eyes of the Professors, and thereby have a tendency to cause an 
alteration in the present system, which might be attended with be- 
nefit. First, as regards surgical operations, there are many 
which might be required in a country practice that the students 
have not an opportunity of seeing performed (owing to a want of 
variety of the diseases of the patients admitted) at the College, 
which would not be the case in a country practice. May I ven- 
ture to suggest that those operations which are not requisite to have 
recourse to on the living animals at the College, may, by the Pro- 
fessors, be performed in the presence of the students on a dead 
subject] by which means they would gain a knowledge of the per- 
formance of the operations, and, by operating on the dead animals, 
would cause a more lasting remembrance of them in the students’ 
minds than by any theoretical explanation. The operations also 
that may be performed on the patients in the Infirmary should 
always be done at a stated time by one of the Professors, so that 
the students may all be present during the time they are being per- 
formed. Secondly, as relates to the practice at the College, there 
would, I consider, be benefits accrue by an observance of punctual- 
ity by the Professors for inspecting, &c., those animals entrusted 
to their care, some appointed time for which ought to be fixed upon 
