762 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
and speaking from my own recollections, the late Professor 
Miller, of Edinburgh University, was unequalled in point of 
eloquence. When Mr. Mitchell Henry, M.P., was surgeon 
to the Middlesex Hospital he delivered, without note, one of 
the most profound opening discourses that was ever listened 
to in the metropolis; yet, in the matter of oratory, I do not 
think that many have enjoyed a greater treat than some 
of you experienced in this theatre at this time last year. 
But there is another aspect in which this question, as to 
the value of inaugural addresses, may be viewed; for how¬ 
ever much we may envy or admire the special gifts to which 
I have alluded, yet many hold that, for all practical pur¬ 
poses, the humbler efforts implied by the written discourse 
sufficiently meet the exigencies of the occasion. By this 
more commonplace method it is apparently easier for the 
lecturer to offer, be he so minded, a general survey of the 
work of professional education that has lately been done, 
that is actually being done, and that yet remains to be accom¬ 
plished. But you will say, “ Who is sufficient for the task 
if all the departments of veterinary science and art, for ex¬ 
ample, are thus to be passed in review ?” Clearly, not one 
of us. In my judgment it is neither fair nor fitting that 
any professor should be expected to do more than pass in 
review the subjects which it is his especial prerogative to 
teach. In this way the tedium of annual and threadbare 
repetitions is avoided, whilst in the course of a very few 
years the actual, real, and evident progress of any given 
institution is more or less faithfully registered. This con¬ 
fession of faith on my part is intended to render a double 
service. Whilst it offers in part an apology for the method 
now adopted, it also serves to prepare you for the very simple 
details which follow as a logical expression of the view 
entertained. 
In the discourse delivered in this theatre in 1873 I urged 
upon the practising members of the veterinary profession 
greater attention to the parasites and parasitic diseases of 
animals, and in the following year I published a small 
manual, with the double view of aiding the student and 
starting fresh inquiries. Dr. Tommasi, of Florence, was 
good enough to produce an Italian version of this book, 
which has been found useful in the veterinary schools of his 
native country. 
On the occasion referred to, knowing that I was only 
acting in perfect accordance with the expressed wishes of the 
Governors of this institution, I also spoke freely of the 
necessity of a more practical acquaintance with British 
