118 
A. LIAUTARD. 
vantage would it have been to him if he had worked with it ? 
Will his human medical degree he as useful to him ? 
Looking a little farther back, do we not find one among 
us, who to-day counts upon a great future in the veterinary pro¬ 
fession—he also has an M.D. Shall we ask him how long he 
remained with his human medical alma mater , and how many lec¬ 
tures he attended there ? And when he received his degree, as he 
desired to do, 1 am sure he could not help thanking his first 
medical education, for the teaching he had received at his veteri¬ 
nary alma mater , as the source to which he owed his recently 
obtained degree. 
Gentlemen, I believe this step to be an error on the part of 
young graduates, and one which I think ought to be discouraged. 
If more education is what is needed; if more perfect knowledge 
is desired; if a post-graduate school would be thought useful—and 
it is, perhaps, always useful—well and good; let us have it. But 
let us obtain it through the proper channel; which is that in 
which you have already studied. If you intend to become thor¬ 
ough in your veterinary education, go where you can improve 
yonrself in veterinary knowledge. If you feel that your alma 
mater , when making you a Y.S. or a D. Y.S., has not revealed to 
you all the secrets of physiology, of practice, of materia medica, 
of any of the branches of veterinary science, go to another vete¬ 
rinary school if you desire, or study at home. You are in pos¬ 
session of all the elements necessary to improve yourself in your 
own profession, and the fact of attending a few lectures on human 
medicine will certainly not be of the great advantage which you 
anticipate. Be a Y.S. in the strict sense of the work. Elevate 
your profession and your title, and yourself by that title. You 
can as certainly do it, as those to whom we have already referred, 
without attaching an M.D to your name. 
I know, Mr. President, that the advantages which are gained 
by the veterinarian who is a physician, in being able to join med¬ 
ical societies, is used by some as a strong argument. But does 
that stand upon as good and solid ground as at first it seems to ? 
It is, of course, a fact that much information and benefit may be 
obtained from these sources, but cannot equal benefits be secured 
