INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
653 
the holders thereof are capable of rendering, must be highly 
gratifying to all here, and will, I have no doubt, induce you 
to make every exertion to render your profession even still 
more worthy of the compliment which has been paid to it. 
By all mean’s, then, let me most strongly advise you not to 
neglect your general education. If there be any among you 
whose scholastic knowledge is not so extensive as you could 
wish, why, do that which many of the best and cleverest 
men which the world has ever seen have done before you, 
and what many young men and youths occupying situations 
during the day are now doing—I mean, educate yourselves. 
I do not hesitate to make this suggestion to you, gentlemen, 
because experience tells me that if veterinary students can 
sec their way clearly to acquire information and knowledge 
of any kind that will be of service to them in their pro¬ 
fession or in after life, they will cheerfully sacrifice the 
necessary time, labour, and money. 
Having insisted upon the necessity of your obtaining a 
sound scholastic education, I shall now proceed to advocate 
the advisability of your going through a course of pre¬ 
liminary scientific stud 3 ^ That is to say, I consider that 
after ^mu have left school, and before * 3^00 attempt to pay 
any attention to strictly medical and surgical studies, it is 
desirable that you should gain a general acquaintance with 
the natural and experimental sciences, ^.y.. Zoology, Botan 3 ", 
Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry. The more immediate 
advantage derivable from the adoption of such a course 
would be, that when you come to apply yourselves to the 
study of your purely professional subjects, your preliminary 
knowledge would constitute a solid foundation upon which 
your superstructure of rational and medical knowledge could 
and would be easily and securely erected. You would also 
be considerable gainers in other ways. For example: the 
student of the natural and experimental sciences is con¬ 
tinually called upon to exercise his powers of observation 
and generalisation, and to note phenomena which may result 
from the workings of the laws of nature or from those occa¬ 
sioned by experiment. In either case his reasoning faculties 
are excited, and in endeavouring to translate the phenomena 
which he has observed {i.e., to arrive at a correct explanation 
of their meaning), his mind acquires that strength and vigour 
which is engendered by the study of the more abstract sci¬ 
ences, such as the mathematics, metaphysics, and the like. 
The truth of these observations is corroborated by the fact 
that at the present time a knowledge of the natural and ex¬ 
perimental sciences is strongly recommended, if not rendered 
