192 
EDITORIAL. 
ture for the passage of laws for the regulation of veterinary prac¬ 
tice in the State, by defining the qualifications and protecting the 
rights and interests of properly authenticated practitioners, and 
the discouragement or suppression of quackery and pretension. 
These early attempts met only with discouragement and em¬ 
barrassment. The annual presentation of their appeal was met 
by a yearly denial, and that some potent opposing forces were in 
operation became only too evident. Until these were discovered 
and neutralized, further effort seemed to be wasted labor. 
Concerning one potent element of failure there could 'be no 
uncertainty. An obstructive discord existed among those who 
should have wrought as one man for a common good. The veter¬ 
inarians of New York and Brooklyn, instead of forming a single 
community, united and co-operative, were divided into two bodies, 
having very similar names and entertaining very similar projects 
and intentions, but, without any good and tangible reason, occupy¬ 
ing positions quite antagonistic and inimical towards each other. 
To obtain any such legislation as should be agreeable to both 
parties under such conditions was beyond all reasonable expecta¬ 
tion. But at length wisdom dawned on their minds, and union 
being strength, a united movement was decided upon as the indis¬ 
pensable conditions of success. Then, after a series of palavers, 
the pros and cons were duly adjusted, and preliminaries of peace 
were signed. The younger association, as was proper, made the 
needful concessions to the elder, and with many protestations of 
friendship and of fraternal affection, the point of mutual consent 
was reached, and it was decided that another, and now a co-oper¬ 
ative, appeal should be made to the law-making body. This was 
not unsuccessful, and accordingly the Legislature of 1886 passed 
the bill for which application had been made. 
So in May of that year, a telegram was received by Dr. W. 
Pendry, announcing that “ the veterinary bill has just been 
signed, and is now law.” But though a feeling of satisfaction 
prevailed among many veterinarians, there were others who seem 
to have been affected by a feeling of apprehension and foreboding, 
as if influenced by the shadow of some impending trouble, vague 
but actual; and when the work of registration was entered upon 
