816 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
time/’ as doubtless all of you have ; to you who have yet 
scarcely lost the sensation of the pressure of your friends’ 
last embrace, or the echo of the last good byeto you 
who this day may he said to have fairly stepped on to the 
threshold of manhood, with a fixed determination as to the 
position in society to which you wdll aspire; to you, I say, 
this opening day at your alma mater must impart feelings 
which savour somewhat too much of anxiety to allow^ of your 
viewing it as one of enjoyment or pleasure. The impression 
of slight inw^ard misgivings that you will scarcely be able to 
grapple successfully with the difiiculties which appear now 
to rise up hetw^een you and that state of efficiency which you 
are desirous of attaining, together with the new and unusual 
appearance which all around you has, are sensations which 
will barely admit of this day being a very delightful one to 
you; hut take courage and be of good cheer, the difficulties 
which now seem insurmountable will gradually become less 
formidable as step by step you advance towards them, and 
be assured that from among surrounding persons and objects 
will spring up such associations as you wdll be able for 
years to come to look back upon and speak of with pleasure 
and delight. Fear not, but rather congratulate yourselves 
upon having enlisted under the banner of a liberal profession, 
the careful study and practice of which will develop those 
talents the Almighty has blessed you with, will ennoble your 
mind, and stamp you as a respectable member of the com¬ 
munity. 
In my address to you this morning, gentlemen, I am desirous 
of saying something to you first in reference to a matter which 
has for some considerable time past engaged the thoughts and 
attention of those members of our profession who may be 
said to take more than an ordinary interest in its rise and pro¬ 
gress ; I allude to the education of the pupil prior to his 
entrance at the college. I here use the word education, not 
in its general sense, but in a limited one—I mean the scholastic 
education of the pupil. Upon this subject much has been 
said and much has been written ; opinions have been ad¬ 
vanced by many which, though varying somewhat in detail, 
are unanimously agreed upon the one grand point, viz., that, 
prior to a pupil entering as a student at any of the veterinary 
schools, he should be called upon to give evidence of having 
received an education that will ensure his possessing such a 
command of the English language as to enable him to fairly 
understand his teachers, and, with facility, to commit to 
paper his own thoughts. Eespecting the absolute necessity of 
this the feeling is unanimous, while against it it is impossible to 
