DINNER OF THE VETERINARY STUDENTS. 89 
It was established by the Medical Society of 1813, of which 
the present reporter was an active member; and of which he 
may perhaps say that he was the founder. 
The present was one of the fullest assemblages of prac¬ 
titioners that has lately been witnessed: of the magnates —the 
“ invited ones”—there were on the right of the chair, Messrs. 
Coleman, Sewell, Green, and Travers; and on the left. Dr. Ba- 
bington and Messrs. Mayo, Ceesar Hawkins, and Spooner. 
Among the practitioners were—-Messrs. King, sen.. King, jun., 
J. Turner, T. Turner, W. Field, Morgan, Sibbald, Tills (Cog- 
geshall), Bartlett (Dorking), Curtis, Bardell, Sylvester, Braby, 
Bennett, Youatt, and others unknown to the reporter. 
Sir Astley Cooper was in the chair. A most excellent chair¬ 
man he uniformly proves himself to be, and we can well ap¬ 
preciate the weight of his name : but we have never concealed 
our opinion, that he is not the proper chairman of such an 
assembly. We originally selected Mr. Coleman to fill that 
situation, or, rather, he was, ex officio, our chairman. It was 
him whom we regularly met in the lecture-room and the yard; 
from whom we were daily deriving instruction; and in compa¬ 
rison to our obligations to whom, those that w'e owe to Sir Astley 
vanish into air, thin air : it was him that we rejoiced to meet, and 
to offer to him,whatever might be our difference of feeling on 
certain points, a tribute of friendly feeling : but when Mr. Cole¬ 
man resigned, and now, it would seem, permanently resigned 
that chair, although he was succeeded even by Sir Astley Cooper, 
we will tell him that, in the estimation of all his friends, the 
charm of the meeting was broken. 
We hesitatingly hint at another reason w'hy the chairman of 
the examining committee should not be the chairman of this 
meeting. When there were no veterinary surgeons, the ap¬ 
pointment of mere medical men to conduct the examination 
of the veterinary students, was a matter of necessity; and we 
are, and ever shall be, grateful to those who undertook to con¬ 
duct that examination to the best of their powder; but forty years 
have elapsed since then, and the system of instruction must have 
been deplorable indeed, if veterinary men have not arisen, far 
better qualified to conduct such an examination, or worthy to 
be admitted as auxiliaries at least in such a work. 
This is the feeling of nineteen out of twenty of the veterinary 
profession. The thing is easily put to the test. Let Sir Astley,— 
let any of his coadjutors,—call upon the talented and respectable 
practitioners of the veterinary art in this metropolis, or the coun- 
ti yif they please, and ask them, “ Do you think, that in the pre¬ 
sent state of veterinary science, some veterinary ]>ractitioners 
VOL. VI. M 
