824 
VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
bullies, and pushes him to prevarication, but concludes ‘ f that man is not 
by any means a fool.” Dignitaries of the Church begin to learn that our 
opinion is to be trusted, and possibility of referring to a veterinary 
examination of a horse for soundness has rendered obsolete the saying 
“ never buy a horse from a bishop.” Physicians, lawyers, and clergy¬ 
men thus feel that this new profession is beginning to assert with force 
its title to a place among the “ learned bodies,” The military man, 
though occasionally an old cavalry officer dabbles in f ‘ horse medicine,” 
recognises the improved health and stamina of his troop horses resulting 
from strict veterinary supervision. As we sow so shall we reap ! Not a 
little of the improved aspect of the profession is due to the training 
given by students’ societies to the coming race of practitioners. Among 
such societies ours is the oldest one in the veterinary profession, has the 
greatest influence, and can boast of having included in its ranks men 
whose present professional position vouches at once for their intrinsic 
worth, and the success of the training to which they have been subjected. 
In the supervision of our register of members, in which I, as secretary, 
have been recently engaged, I have noted that, save where the “ grim 
tyrant Death ” has interfered, a successful career as a constituent of this 
Society has been paralleled subsequently by progress in the profession 
in which we are all interested; nor is it in one only of the numerous 
types of the veterinary practitioner that we note this, we see it at every 
turn, whether in the wide range of country practice, in the sharp busi¬ 
ness of cities, with our armies in the field, or in the professorial chair, 
our constituents come to the front. Long may it be so ; we have as yet no 
cause to fear a decline in the progress of our Association ! When the 
Association was founded it was the Veterinary Society. Practitioners 
and students alike took part in its debates, and to each set of members 
it awarded prizes ; but professional progress necessitates division of 
labour, and practitioners’ societies arose throughout the country, when, 
in the struggle for existence, the Veterinary Medical Association assumed 
its normal position in the veterinary system of this country as the 
students’ society of its largest college. Its certified members, passing 
into practice in various parts of the country, have originated local 
societies, but many of them retain their feelings of respect for the old 
Society unaltered. We owe to them many an instructive specimen and 
many a kind hint from their stores of experience, and from their 
sympathy we derive not a little encouragement in our labours. Some 
of them give us their personal encouragement by attending at our 
meetings, and others by performing with regularity and energy the 
duties of Members of Council. To these latter gentlemen we are indebted 
for some sterling work during the past session—work which will give 
much increased stability to the Association. By frequent meetings they 
have revised the rules and regulations, a work, I can assure you, by no 
means as easy as it looks, and they have negociated a measure which 
will much increase the privileges of members. Thus, henceforth you 
will have the luxury of a reading room, where the library of the Associa¬ 
tion may be fully utilised for study and reference, and where the 
different periodicals taken in by the Association will be placed for your 
advantage. The imperfect use made of these periodicals during the 
past session indicates that further facilities for consulting them were 
necessary. The Council has decided that the following be added to those 
already taken in: 
Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, Transactions of the Pathological 
Society , Students' 1 Journal. 
The full list will be found on our notice board. The books of the 
