566 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
of even fifteen or twenty years ago. Their graduates are better 
fitted to take proper rank in society, better equipped for serving 
the State as sanitarians, and better advisers on questions of ani¬ 
mal hygiene and live-stock husbandry. They are better teach¬ 
ers of veterinary science, as it is taught in the modern veterin¬ 
ary college ; in fact, they are better qualified to perform very 
many of the duties required of them by existing conditions. 
They are doubtless better practitioners, judged from a purely 
scientific standpoint, and from the standpoint of the college pro¬ 
fessor who is accustomed to judge such matters by the artificial 
conditions of the college hospital and by the standards of city 
practice. But are they better qualified to earn their living as 
veterinary practitioners ? I do not believe they are. I am not 
unaware that this statement is likely to meet with severe criti¬ 
cism, and before attempting to point out what seems to me the 
causes of this one-sided development of our veterinary educa¬ 
tion, it may be well to call your attention to two facts which 
should always be kept in mind when considering the nature 
and efficiency of veterinary college education. Regardless of 
the great furore which the colleges are creating over the oppor¬ 
tunities for veterinarians as sanitarians, meat and milk inspect¬ 
ors, teachers of veterinary science in agricultural colleges, inves¬ 
tigators for agricultural experiment stations, army veterinarians, 
and in all other similar capacities, it still remains a fact that 
nine out of every ten graduates must earn their living as general 
veterinary practitioners, and therefore fitness for general practice 
is the standard by which the efficiency of college education 
should be judged. 
The other fact which may well be mentioned in this connec¬ 
tion is that, however important it may be that the veterinary 
practitioner should receive the highest possible scientific train¬ 
ing, it nevertheless remains a fact that his success in practice 
depends more upon his ability to properly handle the owner of 
the patient than upon his ability to handle the patient itself. 
It therefore seems to me that the important question which 
the colleges should ask themselves is, are we each year turning 
out men better able to earn their living and serve the country 
as general country practitioners ? 
I am extremely doubtful if the graduate of to-day is able to 
give superior service under the conditions which, although un¬ 
desirable, are nevertheless those which he must meet in ordi¬ 
nary .country practice. The tendency of the colleges is to over¬ 
look the fact that the majority of veterinarians are not permit- 
