506 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
President, John Wende in the chair, who welcomed the dele¬ 
gates with the following address : 
Gentlemen: For tlie second time I have the honor of assisting in opening 
the proceedings of this Society, added to which I have the pleasure of wel¬ 
coming you to our city. 
I trust that this session will prove as beneficial, instructive and pleasant as 
those which have preceded it. The increased attendance shows the growth of 
the interest and importance of our organization, and it is a source of no small 
degree of pride to each of us to see this evidence of our professional advance¬ 
ment and importance in the community. 
It is within the recollection of many of us when it would have been beyond 
our anticipation to look forward to the present era of veterinary education, 
practice, ethics, and organization, and our rapid development should act as a 
stimulus to promote its welfare in every way. Our craft was formerly self- 
educated, if educated at all; our therapeutics much like those of the Chinese of 
to-day. Colic was treated with chicken’s guts, or the abdomen was kneaded 
with a No. 10 boot, or rubbed with a fence rail. 
Ethics were unknown, and probably few could have spelt the word, while 
organization was never considered. The importance of our profession to the 
community is now established in many directions. Notably, the inspection of 
cattle, meat, food, and the recognition and stamping out of contagious diseases 
are only a few of the many important duties which now devolve upon us. 
There is probably no professional field which presents more opportunities for 
original work than ours to-day, and particularly in pathology and surgery. The 
application of the principles of antiseptic surgery as applied to human beings 
may be modified to suit our practice. The time also seems opportune when 
some effort should be made toward the education and licensing of horse-shoers. 
The man who can improve the present system of shoeing horses so that it will 
be more durable and less destructive to the feet, particularly in large cities with 
the new asphalt pavements, will probably have not only fame but fortune as his 
reward. And instances might be multiplied like this. 
We are glad to see you in Buffalo, which is a fitting place for a meeting of 
veterinarians, for we are in the very center of some of the most celebrated 
stock-farms on earth. In closing I wish you all a joyful and interesting time 
during the Convention. 
After much applause this was followed by the reading and 
approval of the minutes of the last meeting, and the applica¬ 
tions for membership which had been duly acted upon by the 
Board of Censors, and voted upon, followed. 
Under the head of unfinished business, the question of the 
propriety of changing the regular place of meeting from 
Syracuse, hitherto the usual place, to some other city in the 
State, was considered, and also the propriety of having only 
an annual meeting, which proposition was adopted by a unan- 
