140 
A. LIAUTARD. 
profession, and it is with the hope that this intention on my 
part and my assurance that the sincerity of my purpose will 
be generously accepted, that I announce my subject as Ethics 
as a Means of Elevating the Veterinary Profession. 
According to Webster “ Ethics ” form the science of human 
duty, or in a wider sense, the study of what is proper and 
improper in the ordinary relations of human intercourse; or, 
of that which is or is not mutually convenient and beneficial: 
in the exchanges of conduct which take place in daily life 
between individuals or towards the community. The colla¬ 
tion of the rules which regulate our mutual conduct forms 
the code of ethics which we find printed in the publication 
of the constitutions and by-laws of many professional organ¬ 
izations. That these codes of ethics have failed in many in¬ 
stances to realize the objects for which they are established, 
is a fact too well known, and sometimes the necessity for their 
existence is on that account strongly—though we think i 
wronglv—doubted ; though it may be conceded that if all 
men would take pains to well understand the spirit of their 
professional obligations, or their ethics, and shape their 
conduct accordingly, there would be little reason for the 
establishment of formulated codes. Imperfect as the result 
of their operation may be, however, it cannot be denied 
that they were made for the purpose of educating those who 
may be ignorant of this science of human duty, and therefore 
to elevate them and their professional standing, as well as the 
profession itself to which they belong. And therefore the 
propriety and necessity for their existence. 
The evidence is ample and undeniable that since the 
organization of veterinary societies, with their constitutions 
and by-laws, and their ethical codes, the veterinary profes¬ 
sion has gained much in social as well as professional stand¬ 
ing before the community. But is the good which has been 
thus far realized all that can be attained ? Have the ethics 
of all veterinarians been of such a quality that no more can 
be expected from them in the way of mutual duty ? and have 
we to-day realized the ne plus ultra of elevation and refine¬ 
ment of deportment which a practical knowledge of ethics 
id 
