PRESENT CONDITION OF THE VETERINARY PROFESSION. 89 
to the lower animals, I anticipate it will prove of service in 
another direction. When a dog has inhaled the fumes, the ether, by 
the smell, may in the breath of the animal be detected many hours 
afterwards. This circumstance shews that the agent has been 
received into the system ; and, as an energetic and immediate 
remedy, I am of opinion it may be beneficially employed for the 
relief of spasm, impactment, &c. 
16, Spring-street, Westbourne-terrace. 
ON THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE 
VETERINARY PROFESSION. 
By W. Arthur Cherry. 
“ This is, rest assured, the greatest evil in the world. We hate and despise 
one another ; that is, we are unknown to each other. 
“ The partial remedies which might be applied are doubtless good ; but 
the essential remedy is a general one. ***** 
“ Wherever there is no apprenticeship, wherever apprenticeships are im- 
prudently multiplied, they present themselves in crowds, and offer themselves 
at a *low price, and the manufacturer (public) profits by the fall of wages 
(charges).’’ 
Michelet. 
I SHALL not make any apology for the remarks which I am 
about to offer : I address them to the whole of my professional 
brethren. I do so, because, in all the various conversations which 
I have had with followers of the veterinary art, there has always 
been a tone of despondency ; a complaining that the country did 
not acknowledge our claims ; that we were not wanted as a pro- 
fession. These feelings I have never been able to enter into : I 
know them not. It may be urged that, personally, I have not felt 
the pressure, the difficulties, under which the standing of a vete- 
rinary surgeon can be maintained. Not so ; few can know them 
better or under more varied circumstances. As boy and man have 
I battled in the ranks for something like a quarter of a century ; 
and it is this very battling which has taught me the fact, that the 
veterinary profession is one that is called for and has been long 
wanted by the public ; and that the reason of our so long being in 
oblivion has mainly arisen from causes over which the public had 
no controul, but which existed amongst ourselves, and which we, 
and we only, could remove. These causes I shall not now enter 
into ; they would occupy too much space, and are not requisite 
for my present purpose. 
