UNIFORM STANDARD OF VETERINARY EDUCATION. 
685 
As I have stated, I do not wish to assail any particular 
school, but simply desire to deal with the question in a gen¬ 
eral way, yet it cannot be denied where one offers to produce 
graduates for a less fee and in less time ; the latter being often 
of greater moment to the interested party than the actual 
cash paid down. There must be some difference in that 
which is tendered for a consideration, not but what I am per¬ 
fectly willing to admit that there are exceptions even to this 
rule, as some seem more adapted to their calling, coupled with 
a desire to increase their knowledge at every opportunity ; but 
this I claim is the exception and I am sure that a large major¬ 
ity of young graduates will answer—perhaps in silence—a 
conscious enquiry, is his knowledge consistent with a truly 
educated veterinarian ? in the negative, yet so many are satis¬ 
fied if after leaving school they can, under the shelter of a 
diploma, treat a punctured wound of the foot, a case of colic, 
or even diagnose a case of lameness, and there ends their am¬ 
bition. Are such men true representatives of a profession 
that can be made one of the most scientific under the sun ? 
Surely there must be times when such men feel within them¬ 
selves and realize their inefficiency. 
The writer is free to admit that many times he has exclaim¬ 
ed to himself that he did not know a thing, the last word 
being preceded by an emphasis that was somewhat unparlia¬ 
mentary, yet he is a reader and more or less studiously in¬ 
clined. This is said with no reflection on his Alma Mater, 
for whom he has the most profound regard, but I do say 
without any hesitancy that the course as generally given in 
the colleges of the present day is not on a par with the im¬ 
portance of the profession. This is bad enough, but even this 
wrong is lost in insignificance when compared with a greater 
one—the desire to turn out large classes. When I speak so 
reflectingly I am not unmindful of the fact that in no country 
has the veterinary profession made greater strides than in the 
United States during the last twenty-five years, yet our suc¬ 
cess must not submerge our judgment when certain reforma¬ 
tion is called for by reason of circumstances that might be 
attributed to such advancement, and which is born of a desire 
