EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
327 
the practice of surgery on the dead subject, as proposed to be 
adopted, is at least as effectual as vivisection, for the acquire¬ 
ment of a knowledge of surgical anatomy and manual dex¬ 
terity in the use of instruments. 
The College offers ample scope for the special instruction 
in the practical duties of the profession which it is intended 
to give to the students, in completion of their studies, not 
merely to enable them to pass the practical examination in a 
creditable manner, but to fit them for their entrance into pro¬ 
fessional life. 
In the laboratory, pharmacy, and dissecting-room there 
will be work to be done, and we venture to hope that means 
will be found to compel unwilling students to complete their 
due share of the allotted tasks ; considering the short period 
of compulsory attendance at veterinary colleges, there is no 
room for idleness. 
The new subject which has been introduced into the curri¬ 
culum—botany—has to our recollection been under some 
sort of consideration at the College for a quarter of a century. 
And we may as well state the fact in plain terms, viz. that it 
has always been looked on by many of the students with dis¬ 
favour, partly because it means something more to be learned, 
but chiefly because its true importance to the veterinarian is 
not understood. In medical schools botany is perhaps the 
most unpopular of all the subjects taught, and men of position 
in the medical world do not hesitate to record their testimony 
against it as a branch of medical education. But medical 
and veterinary students are very differently situated in refer¬ 
ence to this subject—human patients do not feed on herbage,, 
as equine, bovine, and ovine patients do; and it has never 
been suggested—in human, as it may be in veterinary prac¬ 
tice—that some of the most important diseases have their 
origin in the soils and herbages on which animals are kept. 
No veterinary surgeon who has the most elementary know¬ 
ledge of botany would fail to express his opinion of its essential 
importance; and there are many who have had occasion to 
regret that the subject was not included in the curriculum 
years ago. 
