EDITORIAL. 
455 
There cau certainly be found to-day a sufficient number of 
qualified men in the country entitled to confidence, who would 
discharge faithfully and acceptably the duties indicated. Let 
them be appointed; let all the veterinary schools in the country 
prepare young men for the degree which this Board will be author¬ 
ized by law to grant, and we have no doubt much good will be 
derived by the practitioner in his professional standing, and by the 
profession at large. 
We cannot overlook again another benefit that w r ould result 
from the formation of such a body. It is the possibility of arriv¬ 
ing at the solution of problems which have baffled for years the 
veterinary profession of Europe, and which already in this coun¬ 
try calls for interference. It is the prevention of quackery, or at 
least the prevention of its increase beyond its present extent. 
We all know that previous to the establishment of Veterin¬ 
ary Colleges in America there -were no opportunities offered for 
study to those inclined to follow veterinary practice. The result 
has been that many took up the matter as a business, and entered 
the profession and became successful and competent practition¬ 
ers through their own exertions. But self-made men as they 
remain, they are deprived of many of the privileges which are 
granted to the regulars, and have been held somewhat aloof by 
the whole body of regular veterinarians. Equal to the gradu¬ 
ates in many points, there is yet a barrier between them whffih 
neither is willing to seek to overcome, much to the detriment, we 
are persuaded, of both parties. 
Could not, then, the College of Veterinary Surgeons of 
America, by the regulations of its organization, be empowered to 
give these gentlemen a special examination and grant them a 
proper recognition ? If England, after many years, has seen it 
to be advisable to do something analagous to this ; if she has 
thought proper to grant recognition to many practitioners which 
were under special conditions, it seems to us very reasonable that 
the same might be done on this continent, where the profession 
is yet young, and where the regulars and irregulars are yet so 
few in numbers, and consequently more likely to come to satis¬ 
factory arrangements. 
