IT. S. VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
465 
should, haply, miss your approbation and fall short of your expectations ? Upon 
this assumption I proceed. 
Gentlemen, when we quietly reflect upon the duties and obligations of the 
veterinary surgeon, we can hardly avoid being impressed with the fact that ours 
is not simply a single calling, but is largely multiform in its character, and pos¬ 
sesses some very peculiar features; and that these are in some instances of such 
a nature that it is a wonder that the value of the veterinarian and of the services 
which he renders to the public should not have been at best sufficiently appre¬ 
ciated to secure for him the social, official and legal standing which he may 
justly claim for himself. 
Many duties are imposed upon the veterinarian which are avoided or es¬ 
caped by his brethren in human medicine, who has it in his power, in many 
cases, to assume the title of specialist and to enter upon the peculiar studies per¬ 
taining to the role he has chosen, while, on the other hand, the veterinarian, 
generally speaking, is not only expected to be a competent general practitioner, 
and even a surgeon, but has often to add to these the functions of an obstetri¬ 
cian, and to that again even the duties of the general sanitarian. Thus, he must 
be now an equine pathologist; then an expert in cattle diseases; next, even a 
connoisseur in diseases of the lower animals, including dogs and birds; all this, 
if not more, but he must in order to supplement these various functions and 
capacities, and others which might undoubtedly be specified, stand ready to en¬ 
counter the risk of burning his fingers and jeopardizing his reputation by hand¬ 
ling points in law and becoming entangled in matters of jurisprudence and 
questions of traffic. The beginning of his trouble here is the moment when he is 
called upon to give his professional opinion in connection with the sale and pur¬ 
chase of domestic animals, principally in the sale of horses. 
And this is the subject I have chosen as the topic of my remarks on the 
present occasion. 
The decision of the question of the soundness of a horse, or in other words, 
his value when offered for sale or sought for purchase, is one of the most impor¬ 
tant of the duties devolving on the veterinarian. As affecting the seller or the pur¬ 
chaser of the animal, it is of course the first in importance, and it is one which is 
constantly coming before the veterinarian for the exercise of his skill and trial of 
his integrity, and I may add, his courage. Every day animals are brought to 
him for examination and judgment, and he is called upon for written certificates 
as to their condition and soundness, and it is usually his verdict which determines 
the question of sale or no sale. The responsibility which is thus laid upon his 
shoulders may be, and is in fact, sometimes enormous, and no man can count the 
damage he may incur from an unacceptable decision, pro or con, however honest, 
when the result of such an opinion may spoil a good trade for one man, or involve 
another in a bad bargain. 
Gentlemen, in the performance of this part of our professional duty there is 
no possibility of escape or of chance for the concealment of an opinion ; it must be 
stated in black and white, and whatever your judgment may be, it is most likely 
in a majority of cases, to be a condemnation of the animal. 
I said “ enormous ” responsibility. Yes, not only in a professional sense, but 
as a matter of social involvement. Standing between the seller and the buyer, 
