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THE VETERINARIAN, JUNE, 1828 . 
Licet omnibus, licet etiam mihi, dignitatem artis veterinaria tiieri.’'— Cicero. 
- ^ - 
MANY of our readers have, doubtless, received a circular from 
a small but respectable body of veterinary surgeons, appointing 
a meeting of the profession, on the 10th inst. to establish a Ve¬ 
terinary Medical Society, and to take into consideration the 
principles on w^hich it should be founded, and the laws by 
which it should be governed. 
The object proposed is most important in the present state of 
our art. Veterinary periodical publications afford a proper me¬ 
dium for the accumulation of discoveries and facts, but their 
limited number of pages, and the multitude of subjects which 
they embrace, will not admit of the full and satisfactory discus¬ 
sion of many interesting questions. 
Veterinary science is yet in its infancy. Its principles are 
scarcely understood, and nothing can be so dissimilar as the 
practice of different surgeons on the same case. An ingenious 
essay may correct some false principle or mal-practice : but the 
essay itself may not be free from error. It contains the opi¬ 
nions, and, possibly, the fallacious theory of an individual. 
Some truth may be diffused, but false reasoning and practice 
may occasionally be disseminated. 
In a medical society every opinion and statement is brought 
to the test of argument. The wheat is separated from the 
chaff. That alone which is of sterling value is retained, and 
the remnant of antiquated prejudice, or the suggestions of in- 
experience are rejected : and when, at the close of the discus¬ 
sion, the veterinary periodical communicates to the public the 
decision of an assembly, guided by the love of truth, and fitted 
by their habits and'pursuits to decide justly, the advantage that 
will accrue to us in our present state of knowledge can scarcely 
f 
