VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 825 
library are now fully catalogued, and reference to the list will show that 
they number about 1450 volumes. With such at your disposal you will 
little need to consult other sources, and will have no excuse for 
imperfectly “ working up ” the bibliography of your essay subjects. 
Recently we had reason to regret the absence of the'newest professional 
works, but this is now corrected, as reference to the catalogue will show ; 
none of us will question that the funds of the Association are thus well 
spent. Not the least onerous work of the Council is the adjudication of 
awards such as are announced on the prize list. The “ Spooner prize 
examination ” was conducted on the evening of the ‘24th March. 
Questions in anatomy, chemistry, and botany were given for the written 
examination. The answering of the botany questions was by no means 
satisfactory ; in future the Council hopes that the application of this 
important science to veterinary medicine and surgery and hygiene will 
not be almost totally neglected by students. The candidates, of whom 
four presented themselves, were examined viva voce in surgery and medi¬ 
cine. The decision of the examiners was : 
Gold Medal. —Mr. William Frank Smith, of Downham Market. 
Certificate of Merit. —Mr. William Alston Edgar, of Dartford. 
The answering was highly creditable; as last year, the marks for the 
viva voce were most satisfactory. 
A well-earned silver medal was awarded to Mr. Nicholson Almond for 
his preparations “ Illustrating the manner in which the cranial nerves 
emerge from the cranium.” The excellence of this gentleman’s spe¬ 
cimens demanded an unhesitating favorable decision, though no others 
were sent in. These are on the table for your inspection. One essay 
on “Eczema Epizootica,” was placed in the hands of the secretary. 
The members of Council examined this, and concluded that it is worthy 
of the Association Silver Medal. On opening the sealed envelope 
which accompanied it, the author was found to be Mr. William Frank 
Smith. The Council, by a resolution of February 13th, 1879, decided 
that, the rules having been so recently modified, the date before which 
the preparations and essays in competition for the silver medals must be 
sent in be the last day in May as heretofore, and not the last day in 
March, as it will be in future according to the modified rules. In all 
eleven essays were read at the general meetings during the past session. 
Mr. Dixson, M.R.C.Y.S., late Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy at the 
College, favoured us with a paper on “ Distemper as affecting the Dog A The 
discussion on this occupied two nights of meeting and it ended with a re¬ 
markable specimen forwarded to the Association by Captain Russell, of 
Grantham, of “ Diffused Encephaloid,” and a case of “Ventral Uterine 
Hernia of the Bitch,” drew our attention to Canine Pathology. Mr. W. F. 
Smith’s paper on “ Breeds and Breeding of Cart Horses and Mr.W. Beach’s 
essay on “ British Sheep , and the Management of a Flock on a light land 
Farm,” are valuable contributions to that science which is termed 
Zootechny. They illustrate the effects of artificial selection. Mr. Beach, 
in the elaboration of his subject, prepared specimens illustrating varia¬ 
tions of the skull in the principal British breeds ; these he has presented 
to the Association, and for them lie has received the thanks of the 
Council. A valuable series of preparations of the “ Petrous Temporal 
Bones,” from Mr. Nicholson Almond, was similarly acknowledged, and 
to that gentleman we are indebted for our only paper on pure pathology— 
his essay on “ Inflammation.” The theories therein placed under our 
notice should be well known to all veterinary surgeons as the most 
recent opinions of the leading authorities on the subject, llis theory of 
treatment may be seen in the Veterinarian , May, 1879. Mr. Blakeway 
read a paper on “ Specific\ Ophthalmia as affecting the Horse,” and this, 
