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EDITORIAL 49 
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ice, and the conditions attached to the offer are such that every 
ornpetitor i3 sure to obtain at least the fullest publicity and what- 
ver degree of resulting credit his work may merit. We have 
.lready stated these terms, but for the benefit of new readers and 
,ny others who may become interested, we repeat them here. The 
capers presented for competition are to be published in the Be- 
tew, and the prize is to be awarded by a vote of the United States 
Veterinary Medical Association, at the coming September meet- 
ng, the vote being taken upon the papers alone, without any 
cnowledge of the authorship. The papers are to be without 
iignature, but must be distinguished by a motto, and the name 
>f each author must be enclosed in an envelope, which must bear 
m the outside the same motto by which his composition is to be 
dentified. 
The brief period of four months only now remains until the 
neetino' at which this matter is to be determined, and—shall we 
o 
* a y it—the first competitive paper has not yet come into our 
aands! 
We scarcely care to refer to the pecuniary value of this prize 
vhich no one, so far, seems to covet, though even this might 
sometimes justify a few hours of thought and labor, but when 
,ve refer to other and nobler considerations, and the motives of a 
commendable ambition which no one seems to possess, what can 
be said ? If the veterinary profession in America is to carry with 
it the prestige which properly belongs to it; if its members are 
to be men who can maintain a social equality with those who 
practice callings in no sense more respectable; if American veteri¬ 
narians are unwilling to merit the stigma of inferiority, and to feel 
themselves incapable of fraternizing upon equal terms with the 
members of the same profession in European countries; if Arner- 
can science in this line of study is not to be ml as an originator, 
but is to borrow or beg all its advancement and growth from 
abroad—then, the more's the pity, let us sit humbly down and 
work our way with the minimum of knowledge, modestly plying 
the trade of doctoring horses and cows, for a moderate living, 
and leaving it to other lands to boast of their Bonleys, their Pa=>- 
teurs, their Flemings, and scores of that type of veterinarians. But 
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