LIVERPOOL VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
205 
The President then delivered his inaugural address. 
Gentlemen, —In delivering an address before the members of 
the Liverpool Veterinary Medical Association, I feel that it is neces¬ 
sary, in the first place, to state that I esteem it no light honour to 
be permitted to occupy the chair that has been so worthily filled by 
my predecessors, and to preside over an association of veterinary 
surgeons of the city of Liverpool; and though I am conscious that 
my claim to this high position is much inferior to that of others 
whom I could name, I recognise in my election the expression of 
a conviction that I shall exercise ray humble abilities for the well¬ 
being of this association. Although this is the first inaugural 
address delivered before you, I confess there is but little matter I 
can advance that has not been, in one form or other, put forth in 
addresses to other associations ; therefore I need not go over the 
ground which has been so ably and so successfully traversed before. 
The value and usefulness of these associations are admitted every¬ 
where by practical and experienced men. They have made immense 
progress in all quarters of late years : they require no eulogy from 
me; they have now acquired the force of accepted historical truth; 
the controversy, if ever there was any worthy of the name, has long 
since been exhausted on both sides. But although nineteen out of 
every twenty members of our profession yield a willing assent to 
their utility, there is, and ever will be, a certain per centage who 
object to come amongst us. There is no shutting our eyes to the 
fact that there is an unmistakeable and a leaden apathy amongst 
the members of our profession, and something is still wanting 
in order to secure, if it is attainable, the full measure of suc¬ 
cess. I do not say this is impossible—I do not say it will 
require the voice of the charmer to conjure up a mysterious 
infiuence, in order to cause every member of the profession to 
become a member of a veterinary medical association ; because, if 
such was the condition upon which success depended, I for one 
should at once despair of their permanency. We wish to see things 
as they really are in our profession. We wish to be real, to look 
only at realities, and by meeting together, interchange thoughts and 
ideas. By having more frequent and closer intercourse with each 
other, we form new estimates of ourselves and of mankind ; we 
stimulate each other to attend more earnestly to what appertains to 
our own interests, and by adopting everything that is an improve¬ 
ment, 'we by such means render ourselves more useful members of 
society. Upon our present mode of treating the various diseases in 
our patients there are those who say, “What’s the good of study, 
or attending these meetings; there is nothing got by it.” Such 
men deserve, and that most richly, to be ostracised. The progress 
of our science is referable to its inherent vitality, its power of con¬ 
vincing men that our knowledge, our method ot treatment, and its 
results are unquestionably far in advance of those w'ho have gone 
before us. We want our progress to be both seen and felt; we wish 
to leave legible and enduring footprints upon the sands of time ; 
