ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 368 
/ 
died suddenly, but since that time I have reason to believe that 
no fresh cases have occurred. 
J. Wortley Axe, 
Professor of Pathology and Morbid Anatomy, 
at the Royal Veterinary College. 
Mr. Dent wished to call attention to a paragraph in the letter 
from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, which stated 
that such a scheme as that recommended by them would tend to 
encourage the study of cattle practice amongst the students, and 
that this branch of veterinary science was carried on with diffi¬ 
culty in London, as cattle are rarely, if ever, sent to the Royal 
Veterinary College for treatment. At the present time agricul¬ 
turists were very much in the hands of veterinary surgeons with 
respect to the slaughter of animals for almost every kind of dis¬ 
ease, and they were told, officially, that in the education of vete¬ 
rinary surgeons they very rarely had an opportunity of seeing 
disease in cattle, sheep, and pigs. A wonderful improvement, it 
was stated, was about to be adopted by sending the students once 
or twice a week to the Metropolitan Meat Market, and to the 
Foreign Market at Deptford! It struck him that this arrange¬ 
ment would be on a par with sending medical students to study 
human diseases by seeing people who attended markets and fairs. 
He was quite aware that since Colonel Kingscote and other gen¬ 
tlemen had become Governors of the Royal Veterinary College 
great improvements had taken place, and that efforts were being 
made to give veterinary students the requisite education ; but 
would it not be possible for these young men to serve an appren¬ 
ticeship with veterinary surgeons in the country, before going to 
the Royal Veterinary College ? At present agriculturists were 
so much under the power of the Veterinary Department and of 
veterinary surgeons, that it was extremely important that the 
study of veterinary science should be more carefully attended to 
in the future than it had been in the past. He made these 
remarks in the hope that the Royal Veterinary College might 
propound some scheme to give their students further instruc¬ 
tion, and he was confident that the Council would be prepared 
to render all the support they could, both pecuniarily and 
otherwise. 
Colonel Kingscote , C.B., M.P., agreed most thoroughly with 
every word which had fallen from Mr. Dent with respect to the 
great necessity of veterinary surgeons being competent in their 
profession, especially as regards cattle, sheep, and pigs. The 
power now wielded by these gentlemen under the new Con¬ 
tagious Diseases (Animals) Act was very great, and it therefore 
behoved the Royal Veterinary College to put that education 
before their students which would fit them to exercise this power 
with discretion. As long as he had the honour of being a 
Governor of that College he would do all in his power to provide 
that the requisite instruction should be given, but it must not be 
forgotten that there were great difficulties in the way. The Col- 
