STATE AND PROSPECTS OP THE VETERINARY PROFESSION. 393 
possess—each will say—having acquired much of it by my own 
application and industry, it shall sooner go down to the grave 
with me than it shall be handed over gratuitously to the unedu¬ 
cated man, who will by its use do all he can, in his own un- 
courteous, bigoted, ignorant manner, to take the very bread 
out of my mouth; and moreover who is by law permitted to 
call himself a veterinary surgeon, and thus claims to stand 
upon an equality with myself. Abolish this very censurable 
state of things, and then all the knowledge I may possess I 
will freely make known to my veterinary brethren. 
Now I would respectfully ask, Is not this feeling very 
generally expressed in the provinces ? How much our pro¬ 
fession suffers from it none can tell. This spirit of itself 
tends to check all interchange of acquired knowledge. It is 
a universal clog upon the onward progress of our profession* 
It is a state of things which certainly ought not to be per¬ 
mitted to exist. We are not faithful to ourselves-—to our 
common profession—or even to society, if we do not become 
more in earnest in this matter, and not rest until we 
obtain all the powers that are necessary to secure the full 
benefit of our own individually acquired or developed know¬ 
ledge. 
I cannot find words sufficiently strong to convey my 
warmest thanks to our late President for his great and valu¬ 
able services towards the attainment of this object. I fear, 
however, there is at present too much apathy in the profession, 
and even in the Council; but if they have been slow to un¬ 
derstand their own interests, 1 trust they will not permit his 
exertions to be barren of results, but prosecute the Bill 
—which I fully believe to be a wise, just, and beneficial 
measure—to a successful issue. 
Much also has been said upon the subject of education, 
and although it is the custom to say the Council has nothing 
to do with the education of the student, I am of opinion that 
time has demonstrated the fallacy of this, as it has proved the 
error of the prophecy that education would tend to ruin the 
labouring classes. Is it not a matter of fact that education 
does not make the labouring classes above their place ? 
Education gives dignity to labour, enlightening the labourer 
and making him a more apt, skilled, and useful, and conse¬ 
quently a more valuable member of society. As such he is 
worthy of a higher rate of pay than the uneducated and un¬ 
skilled man. Let me here point out the rapid and gigantic 
strides education is making, and has made of late years 
among the masses of society. The agriculturist is now 
an educated man. There is scarcely to be found one who, 
xxxvii. 26 
