394 
TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING 
Have you any laws in your State protecting veterinary surgeons in the prac¬ 
tice of their profession ? 
If there are any such laws, how do they work, and of what benefit are 
they? 
Any information you may have to impart concerning the standing of the 
veterinary profession in your community; any recent advances it has made 
which would be of value in our report, or any hints or suggestions you may have 
to make concerning the work in hand, will be gladly received. 
Yours truly, 
Austin Peters, M.R.C.V.S., 
Chairman of Committee on Intelligence and Education. 
From the various letters which I received in response I have been able to 
compile the following rambling remarks. In sending the circulars to the Assist¬ 
ant State Secretaries I took the precaution to enclose a stamped envelope with 
my address printed upon it, in order to be sure of a reply; yet out of a total of 
twenty-eight circulars I received but twenty answers. It seems to me that there 
is very little excuse for such lack of interest in matters pertaining to our profes¬ 
sion, and it is my intention to furnish our President-elect with a list of the delin¬ 
quents in order that he may, if he sees fit, appoint new men in their places. 
From the view I take of the various matters considered in our report, the 
subject of Veterinary Education and what may be called Intelligence are so 
closely associated together that it is impossible to entirely separate them; there¬ 
fore, they will have to be considered to a certain extent as a whole. 
I prefer, however, to begin with the subject of Education, following with 
other topics which may be of interest to us. In 1863, when this Association was 
first organized, it consisted chiefly of men who were non-graduates; there were 
very few members of the Association who were graduates of veterinary schools, 
because there were no veterinary schools in the country from which they could 
graduate, and the few having diplomas obtained them by pursuing a course of 
study abroad. Yet these non-graduates were, as a whole, honorable, conscien¬ 
tious men ; good practitioners of their profession; fairly well read, and enjoyed 
the respect and confidence of the communities in which they lived. But a change 
has gradually taken place in the 'personnel of our Association; many of the old 
non-graduates have passed away, and but a few remain, and the members who 
have joined us of late years have been all graduates of veterinary colleges, and 
to-day it would be an impossibility for a non-graduate to become a member of 
our body. This change, however, was brought about in a great measure by 
these non-graduates themselves; they said that now the country has a number of 
veterinary schools, there is no excuse for a young man about to enter the veter¬ 
inary profession not acquiring an education to fit him for the work which he is 
to pursue in the future. Because they had to acquire their knowledge from the 
teachings of their fathers, from their readings and personal observations and ex¬ 
periences, was no reason why another generation should do so when it could have 
the advantages of schools, with instructors trained to their work; dissecting 
rooms, laboratories and modern text-books at their disposal, together with the 
advantages of hospital practice and clinics. These men asked for something 
better and they got it. The question now propounds itself to us, shall we be 
satisfied with our veterinary scho'ols as they are ? or shall we not, in this great age 
