238 MATRICULATION EXAMINATION OF VETERINARY STUDENTS. 
veterinary students, has evidently been misunderstood by many 
of my professional friends, and as my letter to the Council 
appeared in the February number of your Journal, I beg to 
request that you will allow the correspondence which has 
since passed between Sir Frederick Fitzwygram and myself, 
also to appear in your next issue. 
I am, gentlemen, 
Yours truly, 
James McCall, 
To the Editors of the * Veterinarian? Principal. 
Aldershot ; February 1st. 
Dear Principal, —I was not able to be at the Quarterly 
meeting at Red Lion Square, but I understand that you 
objected to the proposed matriculation scheme mainly on the 
ground that it would give power to the Council of the Royal 
College of Veterinary Surgeons, and that at some future time 
they, having obtained the power to regulate the examination, 
might increase the stringency of the examination to an 
extent which might be unsuitable to the Scottish students. 
If this were so , your ground of objection would be perfectly 
sound and valid . 
But this was not the intention. 
The intention was and is that the schools should agree 
on a standard of examination suitable to themselves, the 
standard agreed to by all, and that the College should be 
asked to supervise and conduct the examination. 
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons would acquire 
no power, nor could it raise the examinations beyond the 
standard fixed by the schools. Its function would be limited 
to seeing that the standard so agreed on, was fairly carried 
out. Believe me, truly yours, 
F. Fitzwygram. 
4 th March, 1880. 
Dear Sir Frederick, —I must apologise for the delay in 
answering your kind letter regarding the matriculatory 
examination of students. You have exactly stated my reasons 
for declining to hand over to the Royal College of Veterinary 
Surgeons the power I possess of fixing the standard of exam¬ 
ination of my pupils. 
I was the first to institute a matriculatory examination, 
and am vain enough to believe that I have caused it to be 
carried into effect with as good results at this, as at any other 
college, and my desire is steadily to advance the educational 
test until we may all rejoice in having our colleges filled 
with pupils whose education is on a par with medical students. 
