366 ROYAL COLLEGE OF VETERINARY SURGEONS. 
of our profession, when properly pursued, gives us so legiti- 
mate a claim. (Cheers.) 
The Chairman : The next toast on my list is “ the Royal 
Agricultural Society of England to this I beg to add the 
health of Professor Simonds. 
Trof. Simonds , in responding to the toast, said : Although I 
am somewhat connected with the Royal Agricultural Society, 
I could not have anticipated that this compliment would have 
been paid me. You are all aware that the Royal Agricultural 
Society has been a great promoter of veterinary science ; and 
I believe that much of the advancement which has of late 
years been made in our knowledge of anatomy, physi- 
ology, and pathology, using those terms as applicable to 
other animals besides the horse, is due to this national so- 
ciety. This is not, I am aware, saying very much for our 
profession. We have just heard, and truly so, that, in the 
time of John Hunter, much was done to inculcate a know- 
ledge of the diseases of the lower animals ; although Hunter 
did not confine his researches to the horse. It remained for 
those who came after him to circumscribe our knowledge, and 
limit it to one animal. When, however, we see the progress 
that has been made of late years in the opposite direction ; 
when we find brought under our professional notice animals 
worth from £400 to £500 each, we must be fully satisfied 
that the agriculturalist will not be content until he has a 
medical attendant on all his animals quite equal in know- 
ledge and skill to the person he consults with respect to the 
diseases of his horses. 
I hold, sir, that the Royal Agricultural Society is of still 
greater benefit in a national point of view, for no disease at 
all likely to decimate our flocks and herds escapes its notice. 
Our oxen and our sheep form the food of the people ; and we 
all know how essential it is for the well-being of that class 
whence comes the chief strength of our brave army and 
gallant navy that it should be supplied with pure and whole- 
some food. We must look, therefore, to the influence of the 
Royal Agricultural Society, for it is among those animals that 
it takes the deepest interest in, that epizootic affections gene- 
rally prevail. It may not be known to you that the French 
government have applied to this Society to aid them in an 
inquiry into the health of the cattle sent from Turkey to the 
Crimea, it having been stated that a disease of a very fatal 
character prevailed amongst the animals, rendering them 
unfitted for the food of the allied army. As a profession 
especially devoted to a study of this kind, we only heard this 
important inquiry indirectly, and through the Royal Agri- 
