626 
INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
do not possess* nor can they realise the advantages and 
rewards that are within their reach* but w r hich can only be 
obtained by industry and perseverance. They may be com¬ 
pared to one w r ho has just arrived in some foreign country* 
the highways and byeways of which are unknown to him. 
To a person so circumstanced the help of some one acquainted 
with the district* and who would act as his guide and adviser* 
w r ould undoubtedly be desired. So I think it would be 
most salutary that you should receive from those who are 
already acquainted with the profession, some idea of the 
benefits likely to accrue to you if you act honorably* and are 
actuated by high and noble motives. 
Let me now say a few words with reference to what the 
public requires and ought to expect from the members of the 
veterinary profession. 
The time is not very remote when the owners of domestic 
animals had no other aid, if disease attacked their horses* 
flocks* and herds* than the village farrier* or cow-leech: to 
him alone -was intrusted their care. These people* ignorant 
of all principles which should guide them, and many of them 
often half intoxicated* groped their way in utter darkness* 
and* as a rule* did much more harm than good. 
Their employers* also* were often as ignorant in such matters 
as themselves, and could not have appreciated science had it 
been within their reach. But you must all know 7 that at the 
present day the case is quite different; from the nobleman 
with his thorough-bred down to the owner of a single cab- 
horse* each expects in the veterinary surgeon that amount 
of skill which is likely to insure the proper medical care 
of his stock. He is no longer contented with the farrier, 
who blindly administers his nostrums* without the slightest 
idea whether they are to do good or harm. It is not at all 
uncommon now-a-days for the practitioner to be interrogated 
as to the nature of the disease an animal may be labouring 
under* and the course he intends to pursue in certain cases ; 
and if his answers are not based upon scientific principles* 
the interrogator detects it* and is not satisfied* nor should 
we expect that he w T ould be: he might reasonably think 
that the veterinary art ought to have progressed correspond¬ 
ingly w r ith other sciences. 
Just think of the immense quantity of valuable animals 
that are located in almost every district in Great Britain, and 
which form a large portion of the nation’s wealth; think for 
a moment of the value of some choice mare or horse, the 
only one left* perhaps* of a particular breed* which not 
only the ow T ner, but the public generally, consider of the 
