878 
DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES 
? In the weekly private examinations of my class, I had such 
repeated and satisfactory evidence of the attention of almost all, 
and the rapid improvement of many, that I wished to offer to 
those who would honour me by contending for them, a few 
trifling prizes, valuable only as tokens of their merit and my 
esteem. 
The test of merit I determined should be, first, essays written 
without the possibility of referring to books or to notes, on such 
subjects as I should at the moment select. The class at that 
time consisted of thirty-two students, nine medical practitioners 
and pupils, eleven amateurs, and twelve veterinary pupils. They 
who chose to submit to such an examination assembled at my 
house, and the following subjects were placed before them : 
“ The spinal chord,” “ The horns of cattle,” and “ Inflammation.” 
At the close of the evening the papers were collected, to each of 
which a motto had been affixed, and the keys to the mottoes 
were enclosed in sealed papers, and deposited in a little box, 
likewise sealed. The papers were not opened until the evening 
of final examination, and the little box of mottoes not until the 
relative value of each paper had been determined. 
In addition to this, I appointed a viva voce examination; and 
determined that in one case only would I interfere with it; i. e. 
if any pupil, whose general merit 1 well knew, should be question¬ 
ed on a subject with which in our short course he had not the 
opportunity of making himself acquainted, and therefore might 
unjustly suffer in the opinion of the examiners. This case did 
not occur, and I did not ask a single question; my office was 
simply that of secretary, recording the queries and the an¬ 
swers, that their merit might afterwards be calculated. I 
would beg leave here to submit, that when the teacher can pro¬ 
cure sufficient and qualified examiners, delicacy and propriety 
and justice prohibit him from taking any part in the examina¬ 
tion; for he knows the strong and the weak points of every 
pupil, and he can, without the slightest apparent partiality, shew 
off the least deserving, and cast a slur on the reputation of the 
best. With this power, and with the most honest intention, if he 
satisfies others, it will be an exceedingly difficult thing for him 
to satisfy himself, or to do real justice among the competitors; 
and for his own comfort and reputation, and the reputation of his 
class, if it be one that is actually deserving, he should never be 
an examiner. 
My valued and highly-talented friends, Professors Davis and 
Pattison, of the University of London, and Mr. Henderson, Ve¬ 
terinary surg’eon to the Queen, and Mr. James Turner, of Regent- 
street, very kindly consented to preside over, and to conduct the 
