ROYAL COLLEGE OF VETERINARY SURGEONS. 875 
an Act of Parliament; rather let them thoroughly teach a • 
man his profession, and let the country see that the men 
they turned out were good men, and then they might go and 
ask for favours. 
Mr. Wilkinson said it was quite competent for a man to be 
well educated, and at the same time to have a thorough 
practical knowledge of his profession. They did not desire 
that a man should be able to read Greek and Hebrew, but 
that he should have a good English education. Many 
veterinary surgeons had not received such an education, 
and that was the reason they did not rise above the common 
farriers of the country. The men who were at the top of the 
tree in their profession were, in every case, men of good edu¬ 
cation, and that education had qualified them to become 
better veterinary surgeons than they otherwise would have 
been. 
Mr. Lawso7i said his experience convinced him that an 
educated man succeeded better as a veterinary surgeon than 
one Avho had not received a good education. He was very 
desirous of seeing the examinations increased in severity, but, 
at the same time, he could not sit still and hear the present 
class of men spoken so lightly of. He believed the bulk of 
their men turned out fairly, though of course young men 
could not be expected to do things with that facility which 
older men would show. During the last twenty years vete¬ 
rinary surgeons as a class had improved, not only in general 
education, but in practical knowledge of their profession. Of 
course there were exceptions to the general improvement, but 
the large majority were vastly superior to what they were 
some years back. 
Professor Gamgee was quite willing to second Mr. Ernes’ 
motion to the extent of recommending that the alteration in 
the bye-laws should be again taken into consideration, and 
that a Committee should be appointed to consider the best 
means of carrying out such alterations, and the time when 
it should take effect. He trusted by the next quarterly 
meeting the suggestions would acquire a little more shape. 
Mr. Wilkinson said the propositions had been accepted 
in principle, and a Committee was required to elaborate 
them. 
The resolution proposed by Mr. Ernes, and seconded by 
Professor Gamgee, was then put to the Council in the following 
form, and carried— 
Resolved that the subjoined propositions relating to the 
bye-laws on the examinations be taken into consideration: 
First. That the examinations be limited to once a year. 
