848 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
deny that he ever rejected an applicant ! Think of it ! And 
because our committee complain of this outrage, there comes 
creeping out from under the murky cloud of his article, a 
seething, hissing sneer at us as “ non-graduated.” Is that his 
only or his best defense against our just and righteous arraign¬ 
ment for his flagrant violation of the law ? 
Now, Mr. Editor, upon this point which the Doctor brings 
forward, let me suggest to him a little common sense. I say 
only a little, as his head is evidently incapable of holding very 
much. Whenever a diploma is conferred by a veterinary col¬ 
lege upon a man of studious habits, of sterling integrity and 
sound common sense, and when that diploma has been well and 
worthily won and is thus an actual evidence of the owner’s 
education in his profession, then , and only then, can I consent 
to uncover my head before a collegian with his sheepskin. 
But, when a diploma is prostituted to unworthy work, when 
it is regarded and flaunted before our face, not as a help , but as 
the whole thing , when it is used as a cloak to cover up abso¬ 
lute incompetency, as in the case of his eminence at whom this 
article is aimed, then a diploma becomes a dishonor, a degrada¬ 
tion, and an actual curse. It dishonors alike him who has not 
sense nor culture enough to worthily hold it and the college 
and profession that conferred it. “I hope upon this point I am 
clearly understood.” 
And, sir, permit me to say, as respects myself, that “ the 
crime of being a non-graduate,” I shall neither attempt to palli¬ 
ate nor deny. In simple ignorance, I would be your equal not 
to know that I am the man at whom you aim this harmless 
blow. But in order to oblige you, I may say I wish the fact 
known amongst all men that I am a non-graduate ; my place 
and position in my profession enables me to be thus independ¬ 
ent of artificial aid. So, let it be placarded on our banners as 
I walk the Golden Streets of the New Jerusalem with the great 
body of the very best and brainiest men of our profession, and 
I wish it heralded all over Hell, where all dishonest doctors, in¬ 
competents and quacks are sure to hear it. But, my clear sir, 
wherever you hold aloft your diploma, we will run up over it 
the scalpel and the skeleton ; these, I prefer, shall suggest the 
source of my proficiency in the profession, for I have yet to find 
a good veterinary surgeon who is a poor anatomist, nor have I 
ever seen a poor surgeon who is a first-class anatomist. It 
makes no difference where a man studies — whether in the 
woods or in a cabin, or in a castle or a college — but, to be 
