408 
THE INADEGIUATE PERIOD ALLOWED 
That which has, most of all, tended to debase us, is the sadly 
inefficient state of veterinary education. At present, we will 
confine ourselves to one point—the limited period allotted for the 
instruction of the veterinary student. The candidate for a diploma 
as a human surgeon is compelled to produce satisfactory ceitifi- 
cates that he has been engaged six years in the acquisition of 
professional knowledge; that he has attended three winter courses 
of anatomical lectures, two of dissections, two on the principles 
of surgery, two on the practice of physic, two on midwifery, two 
on chemistry, and one on materia medica ; and that he has 
walked some recognized hospital in London at least one year, or 
in the country four years. 
And why all this ? Because life and health are inestimable 
blessings, and should not be placed at the mercy of the ignorant 
pretender;—because an accurate knowledge of anatomy, and the 
laws which govern the animal frame, and the nature and conse¬ 
quent treatment of disease, is the only basis on which good and 
reputable practice can be founded, and cannot be acquired with¬ 
out long and diligent application ;—^because the medical profession 
has obtained a merited degree of respectability, and the time 
employed, and the expense incurred in this preparation, are a 
guarantee that the candidate belongs to that class of society 
whose manners, habits, associates, and lack of knowledge will 
not disgrace his new brethren. 
How, stands it with the veterinary surgeon? Is there less 
difficulty in acquiring a requisite knowledge of anatomy ? Is it 
more easy to obtain a competent acquaintance with the principles 
of physiology ? Is the nature of disease, its symptoms, dangers, 
and cure, learned with less expenditure of observation, comparison, 
and judgment ? Quite the contrary. 
The human surgeon has but one patient, or one class of pa¬ 
tients ; the veterinarian has many. The horse, the ox, the sheep, 
the dog, the swine, by turns demand his care. With the struc¬ 
ture of each of them, or with. some portion of the anatomy of 
each, it behoves him to be acquainted. Each class of animals 
has diseases peculiar to itself; and the diseases which are com¬ 
mon to all vary materially in their symptoms, their sequelae, and 
their mode of cure: and, most important of all, not one of his 
