SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
491 
I was greatly impressed by the demonstration at our last meeting of 
paring away the soles and heels for chronic lameness in the foot *and 
have since obtained most excellent results from the operation. Take 
again the operation of arytenoideraphy as performed by Dr. Merrillat, 
of the McKillip College in Chicago, a much simpler operation than the 
excision of the cartilage and one which according to his testimony has 
proven more successful. The operation of castration in the female per 
vagina, as demonstrated by Dr. Williams at our last meeting, and the 
anticipated discussion of the iodide of potash treatment for parturient 
apoplexy of cattle at this meeting, are only a few of the results of work 
on progressive lines of treatment by veterinarians. 
Passing from what has been done in veterinary medicine to what 
may be done, we enter the realms of possibilities. Suffice it to say, how¬ 
ever, that in all probability in the not-far-distant future we may be so 
far able to control and to cure disease as to render the pole-axe unneces¬ 
sary except from choice. Take, for example, the work that has been 
done and is being done at present in the antitoxin methods of treat¬ 
ment ! Thanks to the discoveries of bacteriologists, who must of neces¬ 
sity be students of diseases of the lower animals, tetanus can now be 
prevented and tuberculosis can be diagnosed beyond a possibility of a 
doubt by agents derived from the poison that causes the disease. ~ Is it 
too much to hope that tuberculosis may be cured, that rabies and teta¬ 
nus may be arrested and their ravages be stopped in much the same way 
as has been done for diphtheria ? 
For my part I am convinced that in many respects this profession of 
ours is of more interest and perhaps of as much value as that of human 
medicine. The interest in one’s profession must, however, with few ex¬ 
ceptions, no matter what may be said to the contrary, depend to a great 
extent upon one’s ability to obtain from it enough at least to keep him 
from want and to provide for such expenses as his condition in life may 
make necessary. 
Taking the sum total of the practitioners in veterinary medicine as 
against the same in human medicine and dividing the total amounts 
earned in each by the total numbers of practitioners, I believe that the 
balance is in favor of the veterinarian. And, granted that it is impossi¬ 
ble under present conditions, or perhaps under conditions which always 
have and always will prevail, for the exceptional veterinarian to com¬ 
pete with the exceptional practitioner of human medicine in point of 
revenue it should suffice for us to know that on an average the scale of 
remuneration is somewhat in favor of our own branch. From a pecu¬ 
niary standpoint, then, I do not think that anyone whose education is 
sufficient and whose tastes are such as to lead him into this work need 
be deterred from entering upon it. He must remember, however, that 
while the possibilities are not so great, the exactions are sometimes 
greater. A physician, when called to see a patient, no matter how 
worthless he is, is bound to do his utmost to save his life. With us the 
value of the patient to the owner or to the community will often decide 
how much time and trouble must be spent upon him. When a veterina¬ 
rian visits a patient, he must in a majority of instances, discard the 
history of the case and base his opinion as to the diagnosis upon what 
is before him. Upon his diagnosis he must form his prognosis, which in 
many cases must be expressed to the owner almost immediately, in 
