INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
771 
resources and infirmary appliances—pharmaceutical, clinical, 
and sanitary—with those of other colleges in Europe and 
America. By all means let this be done. Except in the 
matter of parasites and botany I cannot pretend to know 
precisely how we stand. As regards the measure of means 
and the time devoted to these latter subjects at the Alfort 
Veterinary School, my recent visit to that large establish¬ 
ment has given me some very useful information. I shall 
speak of this immediately. Naturally I am reluctant to 
refer to other departments than my own, and there is the 
less need that I should do so, since our chairman has so 
recently visited the College, examining it much more fully 
than I had opportunity to do. In what little I have to say 
Sir Paul Hunter will kindly correct me if I am in error. 
The first thing that strikes one is the ample space occupied 
by the school buildings and grounds. Being a Government 
institution, and far removed from Paris, there was nothing 
to prevent the erection of a suitable college for resident 
pupils. The residents (les Sieves internes) are both comfort¬ 
ably housed and fed, and they enjoy other social advantages 
not shared by the non-residents (les Sieves externes). A 
chapel for religious worship occupies a conspicuous corner 
of the grounds. The class-rooms, chemical and physiolo¬ 
gical laboratories, and pharmaceutical offices are all on an 
ample scale. The museum is very large, and kept in perfect 
order. The collection not only comprises preparations of 
healthy and morbid anatomy (being particularly rich in dis¬ 
eases of the osseous system) , but it contains a large number 
of natural-history specimens, extending to birds, reptiles, 
fishes, and even minerals. In the botanical department 
bundles of cereals and grasses are displayed in glass cases, 
much in the same way as they would be in a seedsman’s 
shop. As to the internal parasites, they are comparatively 
few in number, and I missed several important and charac¬ 
teristic species. Monsieur Trasbot gives some lectures on 
the subject of parasites. It was this gentleman who, not 
very long ago, denied the existence of measles in beef, 
although Professor Simonds and myself reared Cysticerci in 
cattle at this College fifteen years ago ; and every year since 
1872 I have exhibited the parasites to pupils in this theatre. 
It is to be feared that Professor Trasbot has failed to inform 
himself as to what has been done by German and English 
investigators, to say nothing of the subsequent confirmatory 
experiments made by one of his own countrymen, namely, 
Professor St. Cyr.* Unfortunately, Professor Colin was 
* See my Report in the London Medical Record for July, 1871, p. 472. 
