758 EASTERN COUNTIES VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
temper, and the dam in height and size; food and climate may modify 
these results, but not destroy the principles. The whole seeret of our 
success in breeding is the well-combined introduction of original blood 
from the best sources, and hence our superiority. 
That good horses are always worth money is a fact, that is, horses with 
blood, muscle, and high action. But the fluctuation in the price of 
horses, depending on causes wholly irremediable by the breeder, is a 
curious fact. A few years since horses were a scarce article; now, 
owing, I think, to large imports, the country is full of animals, and middle- 
class horses sell at a price which cannot recuperate the breeder. What we 
want is plenty of bone, strength, and hardness of constitution. Our aim 
must be to breed horses of size and power. In this part of England we 
are well favoured with marshes of luxuriant herbage, well calculated to 
produce the necessary building up of the system ; and here in the 
Eastern Counties Norfolk has always held its place at agricultural 
gatherings. 
In concluding this paper I can only lament the present agricultural de¬ 
pression. Farmers are now passing through very trying and anxious times, 
and they must endeavour by judicious breeding to counterbalance the low 
price of general produce. These bad times for farmers, as they are 
called, affect us indirectly as well; agriculture and veterinary science 
are related to each other in so near a manner. 
Gentlemen, I hope that when we next meet, the agricultural crisis (as 
it may be called) will have passed, and agriculturists find better times 
in store. 
The veterinary profession has been one long up-hill fight for its 
members. A man can never war with so contemptible a foe as igno¬ 
rance. As a profession, we have tackled and routed superstition, and 
prejudices of many kinds are fast giving way. It is my earnest wish 
that our association may take a firm root, and that a cordial feeling of 
fellowship may exist amongst us all. As a hnmble follower and well- 
wisher to the profession that is common to us, I have to thank you for 
allowing me to contribute this paper for the consideration of the vete¬ 
rinary practitioners who have enrolled themselves members of the 
Norfolk Veterinary Medical Association. 
This was followed by an animated discussion, in which the medical 
gentlemen and most of the members present took part. 
Mr. L. Butters then described a case of “ pelvic abscess ” in the horse, 
and his method of operating on the same, with the result, the animal 
being viewed by the members in the yard of the hotel. 
The President next introduced to the meeting his dental instruments, 
and demonstrated his method of extracting the molar teeth of the horse. 
(We are pleased to learn that a set of these instruments has been pre¬ 
sented to the Association for the use of the members.) 
A cordial vote of thanks was accorded to the essayist, with a request 
that his paper might be forwarded to the veterinary journals for publi¬ 
cation ; and a similar compliment to the President concluded a very 
pleasant and instructive meeting, with which the medical gentlemen 
present expressed their entire approval, and also their opinion that by 
unity of purpose and a steady application to scientific subjects, the 
Association would make itself heard on the great questions of the day, 
and particularly those which affect the veterinary profession. 
