PHYMOSIS. 
463 
a probe-pointed bistoury and a director, which should be passed 
between the penis and the lower surface of the sheath. Hertwig 
says in performing this operation it is not necessary to cast ani¬ 
mals of a quiet disposition. He also advises the removal of any 
diseased formations which may be present in the sheath, and that 
the lips of the wound should be treated so as to prevent adhesion. 
He also describes, at considerable length, “ inflammation of 
the sheath,” which throws considerable light on the pathology of 
phymosis, and enables his readers to form a better conception 
of the nature of that disease. 
EDITORIAL. 
STATE VETERINARY SOCIETIES. 
We have often called the attention of our readers and that of 
the veterinary profession in the United States to the necessity 
which presented itself of coming together and organizing State 
Veterinary Societies. We have done so, because we were satisfied 
that by the formation of these regular bodies, a great deal of har¬ 
mony and good feeling could be established between the practi¬ 
tioners of each State; a beneficial exchange of thoughts could be 
secured by the discussions which would take place at the meetings; 
and because we thought they would form the nuclei, which, gath¬ 
ered together, would serve to establish a National Association which 
would properly represent the veterinary profession of America. 
It has been with that thought in view that we have gladly 
mentioned and carefully watched the movement which has been 
started in the western part of the country, and which we have 
urged ought to be followed in the Eastern States. We had hoped 
that those societies which were already formed in Michigan, Ohio, 
Illinois, &c., were constituted as every good lover of the profession 
would wish them to be, and we never expected that the organiza¬ 
tion and the carrying on of these societies could be otherwise than 
strictly professional. Were we in error? It is for the veterina¬ 
rians of those States, and who belong to those societies, to let the 
profession know. It is to be regretted that so far as the Excelsior 
