PRESENT STATK OF THE VETERINARY PROFESSION. 665 
is no single operation we perform that might not subject us to 
the same disadvantage and loss, if there were any untoward cir- 
cumstances connected with or following it. I have never known 
or heard of a case in which the veterinary surgeon had an action 
brought against him, or was threatened with one, where he ought 
to have suffered damage. It has been invariably the attempt of 
some litigious person to take advantage of an accidental injury 
or circumstance not fairly under the controul of the practitioner, 
and from the consequences of which he ought to be shielded. 
Without going into minute details, I would propose that every 
member of the Society be entitled to its protection, and assisted, 
to a certain extent and under certain restrictions, in every case in 
which an action is brought against him for a supposed professional 
error, on payment of one sovereign in advance, or, if thought ad- 
visable, on a written promise to transmit one on demand, when- 
ever required for the legitimate end of the institution. The ex- 
tent of the pecuniary assistance afforded should be regulated by 
a committee of a certain number, after due consideration of the 
peculiarities of the case ; the restriction should be, that no case 
should be entertained in which the applicant had not, in the 
judgment of the committee, acted in an honourable and profes- 
sional manner. Where such was proved to be the case, it would 
be the duty of the committee to obtain for him the best possible 
legal advice and assistance, to get for him, as evidence, such ve- 
terinary surgeons as could throw the most light upon the subject, 
and who would neither be cajoled nor bullied out of an honest 
opinion. I might add many advantages that would accrue to our 
profession from the adoption of such a measure by the Society; 
and if they feel disposed to endeavour to carry it into effect, I 
should be perfectly willing to give them my further views on 
the subject. Should they reject it, enough room has been already 
taken up in The Veterinarian. 
One request more, if you please, to the profession. It has 
always struck me that The Veterinarian ought to contain a 
record of the decision, at least, of every horse trial that occurs in 
England. What an advantage it would be to every one of us to 
be able to shew to our employers, on every doubtful point in 
which our judgment is called in requisition, that such a decision 
corroborates our opinion ! I earnestly hope that veterinary sur- 
geons will bear this in mind, and send some account of, at least, 
the verdict in every trial in which they are engaged. 
May I be permitted to occupy another page or two of your 
Journal with a commencement of a series of Essays on some 
