VETERINARY BENEVOLENT AND DEFENCE SOCIETY. 469 
Secretary, and a Council of twelve members, who are elected 
annually at the general meeting, and by whom the whole business 
of the Society is carried on. 
Gentlemen, depend upon it, ‘‘ the more we become united, the 
greater will be the advancement of our profession, and the higher 
Will be our individual positions.” Our Society is especially adapted 
to foster amicable feelings, and to inculcate generous and liberal 
principles. 
Gentlemen, we have abundant reasons to be proud of our Defence 
Society, not only on account of the valuable aid it will afford us in 
our difficulties, but even more on account of its moral support. 
Gentlemen, our meeting to-day has been called by our worthy 
Secretary as the annual meeting; that is a slight error. It is a 
special general meeting; consequently you will only have a partial 
report from our Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, and we shall 
not elect officers for the year 1869 and 18/0 until the close of this 
year. We, the office-bearers, have taken upon ourselves the responsi¬ 
bility of calling this meeting, to give an opportunity to the whole of 
the profession about to assemble this day in this room to give us 
their suggestions and advice. We also thought it would give us a 
good opportunity to discuss the merits of the whole scheme, as we 
want a greater number of members to take an active part in it; 
we in the provinces have no desire to monopolise the various posts 
of duty, knowing, as we do, that it is only right and proper that 
others should take part in active and responsible duties ; therefore 
we believe the time we shall occupy in this room will be advan¬ 
tageously and profitably spent, in reviewing the whole structure of 
the National Veterinary Benevolent and Mutual Defence Society, 
knowing, as I do, that in some quarters there exists a difference of 
opinion as to the advisability of joining tw'o Societies like the Bene¬ 
volent and Defence together; and 1 may say that, although they 
are joined together under one title, and are governed by the same 
Council, they are totally disconnected by separate accounts, and 
subscriptions, and have separate rules. The Benevolent Fund can 
never be touched for defence purposes; and should the Defence 
Fund ever—and I have reason to believe it will, and before long— 
reach tlie sum of £500, £400 of that amount will be handed over to 
the Benevolent Fund, for benevolent purposes only ; therefore you 
will see that the Defence section of our Society is not only the 
parent, but will also be the supporter, of our Benevolent Fund. 
Gentlemen, I have now come to the conclusion of my address, 
and have to thank you for your patient hearing, and for the kind 
manner which you have manifested towards me. I most sincerely 
hope the good wmrk which is begun, and which we are endeavour¬ 
ing to? carry on, will prosper. Our appeals have hitherto met 
with liberal response. Donations to the Benevolent Fund have 
been received from the Lancashire, Liverpool, Yorkshire, and 
my friend Mr. Greaves also informs me irom the Edinburgh, 
Veterinary Medical Associations. The Society has my sincere 
wishes and fervent hopes for its success, feeling, as I do, that it 
