FIGHTING TUBERCULOSIS IN VIRGINIA. 
487 
should continue to be a power, increasing in strength and influ¬ 
ence as numbers are added and as years roll by. It is almost in¬ 
credible to think that this present association with its present 
membership sprang from the handful of veterinarians who met 
in my office not quite two years and a half ago for the purpose 
of taking some step to check the incursion of the quacks with 
diplomas, and with the determination of doing what we professed 
to be able to do. Four of those six who organized this associa¬ 
tion are still with us ; they may be truthfully called the “ old 
guard,” they are here to-day, and they have never failed to at¬ 
tend a meeting since we met to organize. No matter where the 
meeting was held, whether up in the mountains in the extreme 
western part of the State, or down here by the sea-shore in the 
extreme east, these same earnest men have been on hand to con¬ 
tend for our personal rights and professional privileges. They 
recognize the fact that membership in this association is not a 
mere name ; they fully realize that this association is a State 
institution, and made such by the State legislature, and that 
membership in it is a responsible position, and now it is to be 
seen whether or not others have the courage to sacrifice time and 
money to carry on the work so well begun. 
While it is true that pleasant social features have had a prom¬ 
inent place at all our meetings, still we are not banded together 
for mere social pleasure. We were incorporated by the legisla¬ 
ture to elevate the standard and advance the interests of our pro¬ 
fession. We were made a State institution with a duty to per¬ 
form to the people as well as to ourselves, and here the question 
may well be asked : Have we performed that duty ? In reply 
we can proudly point to the laws of our State and say we have. 
In a little more than two years we have accomplished much. 
Our calling has been uplifted from its past degradation and put 
on an equality with the other learned professions ; we are now 
recognized and legalized. 
Questions in regard to contagious diseases are now referred 
to a member of the veterinary profession, instead of to the hon¬ 
est farmer, political granger or a jury of laymen. 
