VETERINARY EDUCATION, ETC., IN NEW YORK STATE. 68 1 
my part, I will not hesitate to mention it, feeling as I do, that 
no one here will accuse me of personal feeling when the subject 
of veterinary elevation is at stake. 
Gentlemen, years ago, when I began the hard work of start¬ 
ing the first veterinary school opened in New York, I admitted 
to matriculation gentlemen who were earnest in their intentions, 
in their purposes, but whose education . . . Well, I will 
say nothing of this . . . some stayed with us, worked hard and 
succeeded ; others, well they failed or retired to engage them¬ 
selves in other more suitable business, and so it went until 
1875. 
I do not mean, however, to carry the impression that all the 
students at the New York school at that day were inferior in 
their education. Some of them have made their mark in the 
profession. Some of them are to-day among the foremost of our 
colleagues. 
In 1875 the American Veterinary College opened its door, 
the matriculation requirements are carefully considered and im¬ 
posed in 1877, when “ certificates of collegiate or academic educa- 
tion or a preliminary examination are demanded .” 
Of what did that preliminary examination consist of—it was 
not very severe you may believe—but yet it proved a benefit- 
better students came to us. 
In 1885 the requirements at the American Veterinary Col¬ 
lege are made more stringent and better defined. “ They de¬ 
mand a good common school education , certified by college degree , 
or an examination on reading , writing and spelling .” 
In 1889 a still more severe test is demanded as the examin¬ 
ation now will consist in “an essay as test of handwriting , 
orthography , grammar and reading from a classical work .” 
In 1890 no change is made, but “the better educated the can¬ 
didate is, the better will it be for his further studies .” 
In 1894 the requirements are either a certificate or diploma 
of a college degree, or “certificate of an examination passed 
before a recognized college, or of having attended the highest 
class of a public school,” or “an examination which will serve 
