528 
EDITORIAL. 
the gathering, but have been compelled to forego what we have 
considered to be a duty on our part, in failing to meet our breth¬ 
ren in the manner proposed. But even this consideration could 
not avail to prevent our inability from thwarting our inclina¬ 
tion. 
The stale and dilapidated pretext, which has almost become a 
joke, not as uncommon as it ought to be, of an “ unexpected and 
imperative summons elsewhere,” and the like, amongst busy 
practitioners, has not always been our excuse for declining an in’ 
vitation, but the trouble has been oftener attributable to the late¬ 
ness of the receipt of the missive of invitation, which has been 
delayed until the interval remaining before the time of meeting 
was quite too scant for the preparation required for a trip, per¬ 
haps to the remote East or the far West. And we believe that 
this is not only true in our own case, but that it is also a fact with 
respect to many others, and that societies like those which are 
located in Massachusetts, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, and in Illinois, 
to mention only a few, are in the habit of transmitting their noti¬ 
fications, not only to their own members but also to others, at so 
late a period as quite to defeat the real and practical purpose of 
their transmission at all, much to the disappoinment and detri¬ 
ment of every one concerned. 
Veterinary societies are not available for good to the veter¬ 
inarians of one State alone; they do not contemplate the crea¬ 
tion of friendly feelings between merely a few practitioners of 
one small sub-section of the country; they properly mean the 
encouragement of acquaintanceship, professional intercourse and 
friendly relations throughout the whole country , between all of us 
who write ourselves brethren. 
To remedy the difficulty in the way of securing a large attend¬ 
ance upon stated and other meetings, and to neutralize, if possible, 
the effect of the old stereotyped excuse of the “ case of colic 
to attend,” we now venture the suggestion, and urge the re¬ 
quest upon all veterinary societies throughout the land, through 
their Presidents and Secretaries, to notify us of their times and 
places of meeting for the next year. 
The matter will make a good subject for the introductory 
