592 
A. LIAUTARD. 
able spelling requirement, more or less neatly worded by 
asking either “an evidence of preliminary education sufficient 
to enable the student to follow the course of instruction,” or 
simply “ an examination upon the ordinary branches of English 
education,” or again a still easier examination on “ reading, 
writing and spelling.” 
This concise review shows us that the majority of the 
American schools are fully aware of the necessity of earlier 
education, and we are sure that none of them would dare to 
say that their requirements are sufficient in the state of ad¬ 
vancement that we have reached. 
H ow far we are from the days when a gentleman could go 
to a dean of a faculty asking to have his name entered as a 
student, would pay his fees, go into the lecture room and listen 
to the demonstration of subjects which in a very short time 
he would recognize as entirely beyond his comprehension, and 
would leave the institution a poorer and no doubt a wiser 
man. Yes, those days are gone, and well it is for the sake of 
the profession, if not for the names of those who did not tell 
him from the start how unfit he was to study and unfit to ever 
become a veterinarian. 
And yet is enough exacted ? Do we ask enough ? Truly 
a young student who will come to us with a handsome hand¬ 
writing and with a faultless orthography may be considered 
as possessing a sufficient amount of education and of intelli¬ 
gence to enter our schools. He may be supposed and is un¬ 
doubtedly far above the candidate of older days. But for 
himself and for the future of the profession, would it not be 
better to require more? If such a high standing is demanded 
by the principal schools of the continent, if the knowledge of 
more than one language is exacted from the French and from 
the English colleges, can we remain satisfied with what we 
demand to-day, and merely leave the possession of an addi¬ 
tional foreign language as an optional subject for the examina¬ 
tion of matriculation ? 
3D QUESTION —Composition and Length of t]ie Curriculum. 
This third question is a delicate one to consider; while for 
some years the length of studies has been for the majority of 
