ON VETERINARY REFORM. 
their lethargy to a just sense of the degradation into which we 
are fallen, I feel convinced that no arguments of mine can ; 
“ For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, 
Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, 
To stir men’s blood.” 
Various plans of veterinary reform have been offered, through 
the medium of your journal, for the consideration of the members 
of our neglected, insulted, and degraded profession; neglected 
by those who ought to have been its guardians; insulted by 
those who conceive that we are usurping their rights; and I 
fear, in many instances, degraded by those who have assumed 
the name of veterinary surgeons; who, in my humble opinion, 
ought not to have been considered members of the profession. 
As regards a college of veterinary surgeons, I think no one can 
deny its utility; but I fear its practicability, at the present junc¬ 
ture, when every part of public expenditure calls for economy 
and retrenchment. Therefore I am of opinion, that we should 
exert ourselves in order to make the Royal Veterinary College 
what it ought to be, and what its original founders intended it 
should be—a school in which the anatomy, physiology, patho- 
logy, &c. &c. of all our domestic animals should be taught, and 
practised upon scientific principles; also, the period of residence 
for each pupil within the walls of the College should be stipu¬ 
lated by a legislative enactment; and at the end of that period 
he should underg'o the proper ordeal to obtain his diploma , and 
without such a testimonial not be allowed to practise the art 
without subjecting himself to a severe penalty. 
This, gentlemen, in my opinion, cannot be accomplished by 
the anonymous communications of those persons who in your 
valuable miscellany malign each other, and by such means 
w eaken the good cause which they espouse, but by such as will 
tend to establish that harmony so “ devoutly to be wished.” The 
plan which I think most likely to succeed is, to call a public 
meeting, in London, of passed veterinary surgeons. Some mem¬ 
ber or members of the profession should attend the meeting, 
provided w ith such resolutions as are calculated to rescue our art 
from its present degraded state, and ultimately lead to such 
legislative enactments as may raise it to its deserved respecta¬ 
bility. A committee should also be appointed to forw ard a copy 
\>f the resolutions to every passed veterinarian in the country, 
stating by what means the expenses of such an act are to be de¬ 
frayed, and soliciting their support of such resolutions. An 
answ er should also be requested, in order that w e may ascertain 
to what extent we can harmonize and amalgamate in a cause 
which would be calculated to benefit the veterinary profession, 
