208 THE VETERINARY BOARDS OF EXAMINATION. 
and is a course that cannot be too severely censured : it is an in- 
sult to common sense even to suppose it, and to attempt such a 
course in the very face of Her Majesty’s Government is a pro- 
ceeding so very extraordinary that one can hardly believe that 
men who can so act are allowed to be at liberty. 
Few know better than I do the real position which army ap- 
pointments bear to the chartered body. It is true that it has been 
declared by the Principal Veterinary Surgeon, that the charter did 
not apply to the army ; and that a plough-boy might be appointed 
if he, the Principal Veterinary Surgeon, so willed it. Let it be 
tried, however, and see how long an officer of the Crown can set 
at defiance any of the acts of Government. Here is no subter- 
fuge, no paltering with a fact; but a simple matter, that does not 
require comment. The officer so acting would hardly be able to 
retain his own appointment, much less be able to save another. 
Previous to the granting of the charter, it was necessary to have 
received a diploma from one of the then schools before obtaining 
an appointment ; and I believe that I am correct in stating, that 
no instance to the contrary is on record. Now, if this was the 
case when the schools were merely recognized in manner hardly 
public, and arising through private influence, how unlikely, when 
the Government who have advised Her Majesty to grant a charter 
of incorporation to the veterinary profession for the very pur- 
pose of increasing its usefulness, and thereby made it a legal 
and responsible body, that now the Government would sanction 
the appointment of any person who had not gone through the 
ordeal which the incorporated body had laid down. It is so pre- 
posterous that further comment is unnecessary. 
But, by the appointment of a board to examine their own pupils, 
a question arises of rather serious import, — Whether by such acts 
they do not place their schools beyond the pale of the charter 1 
They are row by a legal document declared to be institutions for 
education , and not of examination : this power was taken from 
them by the especial direction of the Crown. 
This being the state of affairs, who will be so deficient in per- 
sonal respect as to appear before a board, and expect that any 
certificate they can give will be of the slightest value 1 Should 
any such exist, let them rest assured that they have taken a false 
step, and one which can never be retraced. 
Placed as I am, in charge of the “ Registry ,” it is my duty to 
watch over the result of examinations ; and I here distinctly state, 
that I will not allow any party who may attempt by this false 
document to foist themselves on the public as members of the cor- 
porate body to do so without the fullest exposure. Already, have 
several persons who styled themselves “ veterinary surgeons,” 
