ADDRESS TO THE VETERINARY PROFESSION. 
267 
have shewn such a determined resolution not to accept it, when so 
freely and frequently offered. There is a time when men become 
weary of making offers which are always met with a negative ; and 
it is exceedingly derogatory in a large body to continue to make 
offers to those who, after all, are depending upon the very parties 
who have the power, if they so will it, to supersede them. 
Again must I raise the voice of warning. The country is calling 
loudly for a better instructed class of practitioners in cattle patho- 
logy : look around you, and see what is doing. Agricultural 
schools are springing up like mushrooms throughout the country. 
Not only is agriculture taught, but practical veterinary surgeons are 
engaged to teach the veterinary art to the pupils — ay, far better 
than is taught in the professed schools. It does not require the 
wisdom of a Solon to foresee that each of these pupils, when he 
takes his place in the agricultural community, will become a rival 
on a greater or less scale to the veterinary practitioner : this is no 
chimerical view, — it is a plain simple truth. 
Nor can we blame the agriculturists for the step they are taking; 
it is one of self-preservation. For nearly sixty years have they 
waited for the school which they established to produce that which 
they needed. In vain have they waited ; and, finding this, they 
have taken the matter into their own hands, and will, if we do not 
mind what we are about, throw us entirely on one side. 
The number of members who have emanated from the schools, 
including those who practise with and those without certificates or 
diplomas, does not probably exceed two thousand ; while the wants 
of the community call into existence, in various grades and by vari- 
ous names, possibly not far short of fifteeen thousand; of which, 
in all likelihood, nearly two-thirds are employed in cattle practice, a 
branch which is all but in name entirely neglected. 
Now the question arises, How is this state of things to be reme- 
died 1 The answer is very simple, — By unity of purpose — by main- 
taining in all its integrity our Charter of Incorporation — by activity 
and vigilance — by causing our future members to be taught that 
which is imperatively shewn to be requisite — by avoiding the coun- 
sels of those who are not of the advancing party — by openness, 
straightforwardness, and integrity of purpose — and, above all things, 
by the union, co-operation, and amenity of our entire body. Let 
us act as men ; and, if we are to be thrown into the shade, let us 
have the consolation of reflecting that we have done our duty in 
that state of life in which it has pleased Providence to have placed 
us. 
Nothing is impossible that is just; difficulties are but playthings, 
if properly met. 
