618 
INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
namely, that sufficient care is frequently not exercised in the 
dissections; parts are literally cut up and destroyed instead 
of being properly separated, the one from the other, for 
further study; and when inquiry has been instituted into 
this, the cause assigned has been the readiness with which 
subjects can be procured. We look for improvement in 
respect to these things, and hope to find, throughout the 
present session, that both old and new pupils will vie with 
each other in the neatness of their dissections, and in the 
amount of knowledge which is to be obtained from the parts 
they already possess. 
Information, such as can only be acquired in the dissect¬ 
ing-room, will also demand silence and decorum to be strictly 
maintained, notwithstanding the observance of these cannot 
be enforced on the same high principle as in the schools of 
human anatomy. If we cannot say that a reverential awe 
ought to be inspired by the thought that we are walking 
among the dead, or in the eloquent language of Bowman 
remind the student, “ that the dead body on which he ope¬ 
rates had once been tenanted by the soul of man, that in all 
probability the Divine Spirit had once deigned his presence 
there, and, finally, that its scattered elements are destined 
to be one day reconstructed, and in a changed and purified 
state of incorruption to resume their mysterious but essen¬ 
tial part in the life of an immortal being,” surely we can 
require that the veterinary student shall not disgrace him¬ 
self by practical jokes and levity of manner when engaged 
in analogous investigations. 
Anatomy, by common consent, is divided into two branches 
—general and descriptive. The former reveals the structure 
and physical nature of the various tissues of each organ 
of the body, whether it be bone, muscle, nerve, tendon, 
or by whatever name it is called ; while the latter shows 
the size, form, and position of every part, and the rela¬ 
tive connexion each has with the other. Organization is 
thus made plain to the senses. The whole frame is seen 
to be fitly and aptly put together, everywhere giving evi¬ 
dence of the wisdom and design of the great Creator, in 
whom “we live, and move, and have our being.” 
The most profound anatomist, however, as such, would 
know but little of the uses of the several component parts 
of the body. For example, the structure of the liver does 
not reveal to him that it is destined to form bile, any 
more than that of the kidney does, that it has to secrete 
urine. The science which enfolds these mysteries is phy¬ 
siology, and it therefore constitutes an important element 
of your studies. 
