300 
NEWS AND ITEMS. 
veterinary surgeons in the army, and suggesting that when in¬ 
ducements are offered qualified graduates will present them¬ 
selves. It is probable that not half a dozen of the veterinary 
surgeons in the army to-day can correctly state the rations a 
horse should have to prepare him for certain work. In the 
British army the conditions are different. There the veterina¬ 
rians are given ranks that induce competent men to enter the 
service. Col. Fleming of the British army, a full colonel and a 
C. B., is a veterinary surgeon. The necessity of having com¬ 
petent veterinarians in the United States’ service at this time 
is emphasized by the danger of epidemics among the horses 
which are obtained from all parts of the United States and in¬ 
tended for service in Cuba. While it is true the purchasing 
agents can tell whether a horse is well or sick they are not quali¬ 
fied as a veterinary surgeon would be to discover weaknesses and 
faults which will be developed by a little service in the field. 
The day of the “ horse doctor ” has passed, and that fact should 
be recognized by army regulations as it is elsewhere. What 
the army badly needs is a corps of veterinary surgeons, men who 
have given as painstaking care to educate themselves in their 
professions as doctors of medicine do in theirs, and they can 
only be induced to enter the army by giving them a chance to 
get a commission.— {Breeder's Gazette^ May iS.) 
Chicago Veterinary Coleege Commencement.— The 
fifteenth session of the Chicago Veterinary College terminated 
with appropriate exercises on March 23d at two o’clock in the 
college anditorinm. The degree of Doctor of Comparative 
Medicine was conferred on the following gentlemen : Geo. E. 
Totten, Bement, Ill.; O. O. Wolf, Ottawa, Kas.; Wm. A. 
Withers, New Orleans, Ua.; C. G. Warner, Aurora, Ill.; Jas. M. 
O’Reilley, Merrill, Wis.; Jas. U. Kling, McGrawsville, Ind.; 
D. A. Piatt, Eexington, Ky. The trustees’ gold medal for 
highest general average in final examinations was awarded to 
Dr. G. E. Totten. The prize in theory and practice was 
awarded to Dr. O. O. Wolf. The prize in anatomy not having 
been won by a senior was carried over to next year. The class 
valedictory was delivered by Dr. O. O. Wolf, and the doctorate 
by Prof. A. H. Baker. The address of the professor was replete 
with good advice to the young doctors, giving them some valu¬ 
able hints as to how. to successfully conduct a practice, how to 
advantageouslv give expert testimony in court, and dwelt at 
length on the^ necessity of sobriety and industry in order to 
maintain a respectable position in society, to read the profes- 
