748 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
preliminary knowledge of which, although we do not at pre¬ 
sent require it of you, would doubtless be of material 
assistance in your studies. But then it is to be borne in 
mind, that the habit of regarding words definitely, of atten¬ 
tion to correct spelling, of carefully minding grammatical 
construction—in short, of studying the language which you 
write and utter, will render it comparatively easy for you to 
fix in your memory the terms of science, and to apply them 
accurately, according to their usage, in the works from which 
much of your knowledge will be derived. I therefore advise 
you, in all your readings to keep your minds alive to the 
sentences and the composition of your author, because this 
will lead to the results I have particularised, both social and 
scientific. 
Moreover, when you enter the profession, you are any of 
you liable to become public men for a time on important 
occasions—for instance, in the witness-box, when causes per¬ 
taining to the soundness and value of horses are tried—and 
in such an event, you may either lessen or improve your 
standing, by the quality of what comes out of your mouth. 
And bear in mind that no one can be a correct speaker who is an 
incorrect writer of his mother tongue. Furthermore, we, who 
are getting old in the service of our profession, cannot but 
look forward to a time when some of you, perchance some of 
the youngest amongst you, may be commissioned to adorn 
the profession with works that shall worthily carry on the 
labours of your predecessors; we heartily wish you then to 
stand well and firmly upon the sure basis of a sound educa¬ 
tion. 
It is my duty to announce to you that after much care and 
thought for your benefit and the progress of the profession, 
the Governors of the College have determined, by gradual 
stages as to its requirements, to constitute an educational 
“matriculation,” such as I have been endeavouring to deli¬ 
neate. Passing now onwards to your studies in the College, 
we have first to invite you to make an intimate acquaintance 
with the structure, functions, and habits of all your patients 
—the domestic animals. Your occupation in the profession 
will consist chiefly in forming a correct opinion and minis¬ 
tering to the alleviation of their diseases, a large portion of 
which attack the internal organs of the body; and hence no 
mere surface knowledge will answer your purpose. You 
must resort to anatomy to enable you to follow disease wher¬ 
ever it may appear. The possession of a knowledge of 
anatomy is indeed the first and most striking difference 
between the scientific regard of your subject and its vulgar 
