REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND EDUCATION. 445 
dangerous. If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the one 
who has so much as to be out of danger. We are all eager 
to keep abreast with the times, but it needs a life time to 
become profoundly learned in any branch, and if these meet¬ 
ings are cut short without free discussion, the Association will 
be known bv name and not by action. 
This Association, carried on in a proper manner, will be¬ 
come a great power in veterinary science. The different 
State and other societies pertaining to veterinary medicine 
and surgery have their regular meetings monthly or other¬ 
wise to relate cases and discuss papers of every day practice, 
while the business of this Association should be relative to 
matter of more special interest and the discussions by cultured 
men. The higher and wider the culture of the intellect, the 
greater will be the influence. 
The most precious treasure which any nation has is its 
young men of talent and genius, and men of genius do not 
exist in abundance. It is generally among men with limited 
means that the greatest treasure of vigor, self-reliance, talent 
and genius are found, and also a fact that the larger number 
of every profession are not men of superior ability, but men 
of ordinary capacity. The only accountable reason I can give 
for the existence of this fact in the veterinary profession is 
that many commence the study of veterinary medicine with 
insufficient preparation or previous education, and, if they find 
the examination too hard at one school, they present them 
selves at another where the examination is easier. Should they 
be denied by all reputable schools, they can obtain a certificate 
from a society in a beautiful form, giving them power to 
practice, saving time, trouble and money ; or in some sections 
of the country they can start in practice without any prepara¬ 
tion whatever, (except cheek and brass, in which they are not 
lacking) as there is no law prohibiting the practice of veteri¬ 
nary medicine or surgery in the States, with the exception of 
New York and Pennsylvania. 
New York State, through a selected number of her vete¬ 
rinarians, used their influence to secure the passage of an Act 
protecting and regulating the practice of veterinary medicine 
