7 02 
INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
similar course myself. But I can justly add here one or 
two additional items of advice which may be of profit to 
you. 
Do not imagine that in the brief space of time set apart 
for your collegiate education you can do more than master 
the A B C of the profession. Our object here is to teach 
you thoroughly and well the rudiments of veterinary science, 
and to indicate to you in what manner you may best 
mature those studies in actual life. We do not profess 
more. “ One needs only to know the twenty-four letters of 
the alphabet in order to learn everything else that one wishes,” 
said Edward Stone, the talented gardener’s boy, in explanation 
of his learning. This is the true light in which to view your 
studies here. You should seek to master the veterinary 
alphabet, as the sound foundation upon which to erect any 
loftier structure of knowledge. Unless this foundation be 
w'ell laid, no superstructure can be stable, and the time re¬ 
quired to be spent in the pursuit of knowledge here is such 
as may enable }mu thoroughly to master the alphabet—not 
more. Do this, however, and the rest will be easy. 
With such hints as we may give you, with the aid of the 
many valuable works and monographs which exist on veteri¬ 
nary science, and such opportunities of practical observation 
as may be afforded you, there will be the widest scope for the 
exercise of your highest capabilities and the greatest proba¬ 
bility of these being applied to a good and profitable end. But 
if you conceive that, when you leave these walls, you have 
exhausted or entirely mastered the knowledge of your pro¬ 
fession, you will be in the unfortunate condition of an in¬ 
dividual who, when he has learned the alphabet, the first 
principles of spelling, and in what fashion to make letters, 
conceives that he is therefore to be regarded as a facile 
reader and writer; or of an unhappy personage who, when 
he has overcome the difficulties of the numeration table, 
thinks that he has secured all that is necessary for solving 
the profoundest arithmetical questions. 
Now, without an accurate acquaintance with the anatomy 
and physiology of domesticated animals, you will not be able 
rightly to apprehend or apply the knowledge of their diseased 
conditions. Pathological principles require for their full com¬ 
prehension a competent acquaintance with healthy structure 
and function. This is to be obtained solely in the dissecting- 
room, and in the observation and careful study of the habits 
and manners of the animals you will be called upon to treat. 
Do not suppose that if you obtain a sufficient knowledge of 
well-defined diseases, and the best methods of treating them, 
