498 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
suffering, to lessen pain, and to shorten agony. This is just as 
beneficent a mission as that of hnman medicine. ^ When we 
undertake to perform an operation that unnecessarily produces 
pain, or entails prolonged suffering, we act in offense of the 
objects of our humane work and defraud our science of its true 
and ethical destination. The above premises granted^ as correct 
—and they cannot be proven as wrong—no objection can be 
raised to the conclusion that a veterinarian who cuts off a horse’s 
tail for fashion’s sake may be cited before his association upon 
a breach of ethics. If nothing else, I hope to show by this 
argument how mean an act “ docking ” really is, in the light of 
a little straight thinking and honest reflection. 
In regard to the expression of opinion by onr English 
cousins, if it can be taken as the prevailing sentiment, it indi¬ 
cates a degeneration of professional morality. It has not always 
been that way in England. Queen Victoria herself has never al¬ 
lowed a docked horse in her carriages or in her stables, and there 
are many noble-minded Britons who have followed her example. 
But, above all, it seems difficult to perceive how such rough 
opinion could spring from the land of George Fleming, this 
honorable veterinarian, this sympathetic writer, whose teachings 
are impregnated wdth the deepest and purest humanity towards 
the horse. Olof Schwarzkopf. 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
UNITED STATES VETERINARY MEDICAL 
ASSOCIATION. 
The thirty-fourth annual meeting of this association con¬ 
vened in the assembly room of the Tulane Hotel, Nashville, 
Tenn., on Tuesday, September 7th, at 10 A. m., with President 
Frederick H. Osgood in the chair, who introduced Rev. Dr. W. 
T. Haggard, who, on behalf of the Mayor of the city, welcomed 
the veterinarians in a neat and hearty speech, after which Hon. 
John J. McCann very cordially and wittily bid the members 
welcome in the name of the Governor of Tennessee and the 
President of the Centennial Exposition. He also announced 
that he would take the attending ladies in charge, and convey 
them through the Exposition, which was accomplished to their 
infinite delight, the expedition including a sumptuous luncheon 
at the Casino, in the Fair Grounds. 
Prof. Leonard Pearson responded on behalf of the association 
