696 
THE MEMORIAL. 
received diplomas after six months’ irregular attendance at the 
school, and that the examinations were unsatisfactory — that the 
profession as a body had requested an explanation of the Pro- 
fessor’s object and intention in seeking a new Charter, and had 
obtained no reply to their enquiry — that the practitioners of Scot- 
land were grateful to Her Majesty for the grant she had been 
graciously pleased to accord, and forwarded subscriptions towards 
defraying the expenses which had been incurred, and in aid of the 
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons having sent a depu- 
tation to Edinburgh to witness the examinations of the pupils, the 
report of the deputation states that there were no examinations on 
chemistry — none on materia medica — none on physiology — none 
on the diseases of cattle that deserved the name — that parties not 
appointed by the Council were allowed to take part in the exami- 
nations — and that Professor Dick, during the examinations, walked 
round to each examiner, and, in a whisper, took his opinion as to 
the qualification or disqualification of the student. 
Such facts, though briefly stated, and capable of much enlarge- 
ment, will convey some idea of the condition of the schools of 
London and Edinburgh when the Charter called into existence the 
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons; and if, in the reformation of 
old and established abuses, some enmity has been excited, perhaps 
the circumstance justifies little surprise. 
The Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 
however, have from the date of their institution endeavoured, as 
far as possible, to consult the feelings of all the parties concerned. 
No sudden changes were introduced ; the members of the former 
examining boards (with the exception of the professors, who, by a 
clause introduced by the Government into the Charter, were inca- 
pacitated) were re-appointed, and in the first instance no alteration 
was made in the manner of conducting the examinations. 
The professors of the schools were elected members of the Coun- 
cil; and when the Principal Veterinary Surgeon to the Army was 
not elected by the profession, the Council appointed that gentleman 
a vice-president, in order to secure the advantage of his experience. 
A code of bye-laws for the government of the body corporate 
was framed ; and if subsequent events have shewn that some of 
the regulations therein instituted need revision, the Council of the 
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons have at all times expressed 
themselves anxious to receive advice, and are happy in being able 
to assert that what they have hitherto done has met with general 
approbation. 
Referring to the education of the pupils, those bye-laws have 
rendered the examinations more general ; and no student now re- 
