INAUGURAL ADORESS, 
(m 
picture, illuminated by science, humanity, honour, integrity, 
and kindness. We will take for this purpose a practi¬ 
tioner who, from the time he entered the colleo-e in which 
he was educated to the end of his pupilage, always availed 
himself of every opportunity in acquiring information, and 
whose whole thoughts were imbued with ideas of his 
future usefulness and the dignity of the profession he had 
chosen, and who also, after having obtained his diploma 
and entered into practice, considered himself still a pupil, 
anxiously searching every avenue accessible to his desire 
after knowledge and truth, saying with Locke, iC It is truth 
alone I seek, and that will always be welcome to me, when 
or wheresoever it comes/’ If new and useful truths are 
discovered by him, he throws them into the common store, 
glad to distribute, and willing to communicate. Imagine to 
yourselves the position such a man would, almost of neces¬ 
sity, hold in society; think how his services would be appre¬ 
ciated by those who required them, aye, and by every member 
of society too, from the peer with Ids thoroughbred to the 
peasant with his single horse, and from the titled lady with 
her pet dog to the widow with her only cow; and why? 
Why ! on account of his integrity, his skill and attention, 
by which he is able to save the lives of many animals 
intrusted to his care, which would otherwise have been 
lost. 
I have thus briefly drawn your attention to both sides of 
the picture. On the dark side, I have endeavoured to depict 
an individual professing to treat the diseases of the lower • 
animals, but, for the want of such principles as might have 
been attained by industry and attention, he is obliged to work 
his way in the dark, and, in many instances, without even 
the aid of traditional experience—is obliged, also, to resort to 
all sorts of cunning devices to blind his employers. Should 
it even happen that he is correct in his judgment, he is not 
aware of it, and may suspect he is wrong; in fact, the life of 
such a person is full of tricks and expedients, without which 
he is in continual danger of falling, and, therefore, he finds it 
necessary frequently to repeat them. Should he, however, not 
succeed by such manoeuvres, he often further disgraces himself 
by intemperance, low company, and the ruin of both health and 
character. Such instances, I am sorry to say, are too numerous 
in our profession. These, gentlemen,areonly a fewof the penal¬ 
ties consequent upon intemperance and the not acquiring that 
information which was within reach during your pupilage. 
Such individuals as I have briefly portrayed often possess 
great talents, but these have either been blighted by such 
