500 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
taking, and made one and all shake their heads in a dubious manner, because of the radi¬ 
cal measures advised. 
Once again we must feel to-day filled with joy and pride at the results obtained ; the infor¬ 
mation gained; the good done ; the health and happiness of a people conserved; the moneyed 
interests of a class of our people preserved and protected, a class who have long borne the 
burdens of the day and whose load has yearly grown heavier to carry. And in this rejoicing 
we may vie with one another in our pride and pleasure that those who have so well plan¬ 
ned and directed this work and who have sacrificed so much in its being carried out are 
our fellow members and colleagues, and they well merit that which we are proud to ren¬ 
der them, our sincere appreciation, admiration and approval of the work so well done. 
Our Bureau of Animal Industry and its correlative bodies, our State experiment sta¬ 
tions have been steadily aiding to our wealth of knowledge and advancement, wiping 
away the brushwood that obscured and covered up the truths hidden deep in nature’s 
methods and plans for the perpetuation of species and kind, and through whose ravages 
and destructive forces these ofttimes microscopic bodies have inflicted upon our people the 
greatest losses and hardships, and brought disappointment and trial as the fruits of their 
toil. Better still will be the work of this national department in the future, for the estab¬ 
lishment there of the merit system of appointment has already increased the efficiency oi 
the service and it will become the aim and ambition of many of our best men who tend 
toward this kind of work, when they see that merit prevails and that tenure of office de¬ 
pends solely on good behavior and ability to perform well the services required. 1 his 
service one now feels like commending to the consideration of all, for it affords great op¬ 
portunity for development in many of our number, whose abilities and powers might oth 
erwise never be fully brought forth. It will enhance this work in every way, and its rich¬ 
est fruits are yet to be gathered though the service already rendered by this depart¬ 
ment stands out more prominently as a true wealth conserver and safeguard to our 
people ; brighter and better than any other department of our government, when measured 
by the relative cost and in ratio to the immense moneyed interests, represented by our live 
stock interests, spread over every nook and corner of our great country. I cannot refrain 
from adding a word of praise at this time to the Chief of our Bureau of Animal Industry, 
whose long years of sincere service to the work of this department through every form of 
tribulation and trial under the most pernicious methods of filling office so long engrafted 
upon our country, that I can best express my approval of the whole of his work in this 
direction by saying that I know no one of our profession in this whole country who could 
have done so well. 
Another thought I would have you keep in a fore place in these days of vaccines, an¬ 
titoxins, specifics and agents sought for to dispose of every disease by a single measure or 
fixed plan of treatment, that the field of scientific medification and the proper use of drugs 
are yet for many years to fill your chief reliance for success and to measure your worth in 
every community. Calomel, aconite, belladonna, and cinchona bark ; aloes, epsom salts and 
linseed oil; saltpetre, digitalis and sweet spirits of nitre, have not lost their potency for 
good, and each have their use and action, more valuable to-day than ever before ; for 
surely he who has lived in the profession the past ten years must have learned how better 
to use these and every other drug. How and when to use these efficient agents and the 
more potent and well prepared thousand and one others crowding upon us to-day demand 
our earnest attention and closer study, that we may reap a full harvest of good results in 
their use, and add something of value to the store house of veterinary therapeutics, that 
have for so many hundreds of years served well the aims and purposes of our predecessors 
in the days when serums and antitoxins were unknown. 
Briefly have I alluded to a few aspects of our profession as they present themselves to¬ 
day, only to remind you that the scope of our work is still enlarging and will command 
from you greater devotion and deeper attention for the future. 
These vitascopic views of our work must surely impress you of one great need, and 
to which I beg your indulgence for a few moments, and I would that I might say some¬ 
thing to impress upon you its deep and vital importance to our future well being. 
Higher veterinary education is the demand of the hour, and I have only words of praise 
for those schools so true to our interests that have added so much strength to this work 
during the past year. The opening college year for ’96 brings the richest promises on all 
sides, and it is this great stride, this promised fruition of our hopes and wishes, that I de- 
