220 
THE PRESENTATION OF 
of sick horses, the committee determined that stables should be 
forthwith erected. On the 1st of January, 1793, the infirmary was 
opened; and before the end of February, the number of sick horses 
had increased to 50, and there were fourteen resident pupils. 
Before the end of that year, Sainbel died. 
It becomes not me to speak of the abilities or the deficiencies 
of the first Professor of the Veterinary College. The governors, 
however, had great difficulty in supplying his place. Overtures 
were made to more than one, who were supposed to be as capa¬ 
ble as, under the circumstances, they could be, to fill the situa¬ 
tion ; but the art was in its infancy, and the new professor of it 
would have much to contend with, and they all declined the 
offer. I was then practising* as a surgeon. I knew nothing of 
veterinary matters any farther than I had been engaged in many 
careful dissections of the eye of the horse for a particular pur¬ 
pose, and had likewise been experimenting on the phenomena 
of suspended respiration in animals. My name was at length 
mentioned by my kind master and patron, Mr. Cline. 
“ I was not much disposed at first to accept the offer of the pro¬ 
fessorship,—indeed, I peremptorily refused it; but, being urged by 
friends, who told me that I already knew as much as, and proba¬ 
bly somewhat more, than any other person to whom overtures could 
possibly be made, of the anatomy and physiology of the horse, 
I was induced to accept of the situation, on the condition that Mr. 
Moorcroft, a highly talented veterinary practitioner, would become 
my colleague. He consented, and we were appointed. 
found thirteen students at the College, many of whose names 
are familiar to you, and who, since the death of the first Profes¬ 
sor, had, under the direction of Mr. Richard Lawrence, con¬ 
ducted the practice of the College : and, gentlemen, when I was 
brought into immediate contact with them, and observed the ex¬ 
tent of their acquirements, I began to see the rashness, perhaps 
I should rather say the folly, of my conduct. I found there, 
Mr. Richard Lawrence, Mr. Bracy Clark, Mr. Field, Mr. Bond, 
and others who were afterwards ornaments to their profession. 
I brought with me some knowledge of comparative anatomy and 
physiology, and of the grand principles of medical science ; but 
