EDITORIAL. 
3 
shall be considered eligible to membership ; a provision which 
will meet the unanimous approval of the Association. The time 
has fully come when the Association should make an effort to 
establish itself as the representative of the regular prof ession, and 
abolish the custom of begging for membership, which has al¬ 
ready too long prevailed. This reform, if consummated, will 
place the Association second on the record of these who have 
adopted this wholesome and necessary policy, the Massachusetts 
Veterinary Association being the only one which thus far has 
held erect and firmly defended the standard of our profession. 
At the general meeting a number of important reports were 
submitted by the various committees. One among these was in 
recommendation of a measure designed to secure a uniform 
standard of examination by the different veterinary colleges of 
the country. The resolution passed in response to the report of 
Dr. Hoskins will be read with interest. This is an important 
step and one which everyone will be glad to see properly acted 
upon, and is one of no great difficulty in execution, though re¬ 
quiring a great deal of moderation and deliberation in action. 
The varying relations which subsist among different colleges will, 
no doubt, interpose many minor difficulties in the way, and pos¬ 
sibly special and peculiar interests may present themselves which 
may render the project exceedingly difficult to realize. May not 
the same remark apply to the motion made in relation to the 
endorsement by the Association of the bill for the improvement 
of the position and standing of our colleagues in the army ? The 
endeavor to endow, a veterinarian in the army with the rank of 
Colonel, in an army like that of the United States, is, we fear, a 
project which can hardly hope to command success when it is 
known that in some of the large European armies the grade of 
Major is the highest to which he can aspire. But who asks more 
may be pleased with less, provided it is an improvement at all. 
The subject of contagious diseases as they have prevailed in the 
United States could not be ignored, especially while the meeting 
was honored, as it was, by the presence of Dr. E. Salmon and 
Professor McEachran, and naturally enough tuberculosis and 
pleuropneumonia became the themes of a loDg and interesting 
