876 
W. L. WILLIAMS. 
tor in an exceedingly trying position, he being in a measure 
responsible to the owner for any error or carelessness on the 
part of the student, along with his duty to see that the student 
gets the greatest possible benefit from the operation he is con¬ 
ducting. We have experienced no more trying ordeal than 
standing by while a student for the first time performs ovario¬ 
tomy upon a valuable mare, the essential part of the operation 
being wholly concealed from view, until the ovary or some 
other part mistaken for it is brought out by the operator. 
Yet it is practicable, and has been so proven by us. As the 
student progresses from one operation to another, acquiring skill 
and confidence at each step, the teacher is fully warranted in 
confiding in his ability, coolness, and resource to properly ac¬ 
complish an operation which the instructor can not follow with 
his eye. 
The third objection we note is the increased danger to the 
animal. This can be answered from varying points of view. 
If a student can not safely perform an operation under the 
guidance of his teacher, how can he be expected to do it well 
without his supervision after graduation ? But one answer is 
possible. 
We are, moreover, in a position to maintain that student 
operations under the eye of an instructor are not extra-hazard¬ 
ous to the patient. 
Owing to a comparatively limited clinic in numbers, though 
unusually rich in variety, the New York State Veterinary Col¬ 
lege has, in order to get the highest possible results from clini¬ 
cal teaching, adhered closely from the foundation of the school 
to student operations, with the result that so far as we have been 
able to observe our results are fully up to the average in veter¬ 
inary practice, and infinitely superior to that of many private 
practitioners. 
We can not enter into details, b'ut must confine ourselves to 
a single line of cases, which being sound animals offer a safe 
basis for consideration. We select the operation of spaying on 
bitch, cat and mare, and submit the following results. 
