470 
w. mceaohkan. 
point out the new departure which had taken place in connection 
with the veterinary profession during the last few years. In 
consequence of the spread of contagious diseases amongst cattle, 
whereby the food supplies of the people were seriously affected, 
various Governments had been led to pay greater attention to 
veterinary science, which had been one of the last, if not quite 
the last, to emerge from the darkness and superstition of what 
are called the dark ages; the village farrier having been looked 
upon, until comparatively recent times, as possessing all the 
knowledge necessary for the cure of diseases amongst the brute 
creation ; though in ancient times, as far back as Homer, consid¬ 
erable importance was attached to the curative treatment of the 
lower animals. But at the beginning of the present century, 
veterinary colleges were established in various countries in 
Europe and many left the medical profession for the veterinary. 
Since that time the science had made great progress; and exten¬ 
sive and valuable additions had been made to its literature. 
The veterinary profession required equal intelligence, education 
and scientific knowledge with the sister profession ; and it was a 
mistake to regard it as a degree or two below the so-called liberal 
professions, as it was regarded when ignorance, cruelty and super¬ 
stition held sway. In some respects it was more difficult than 
the medical profession, which had but one animal to deal with, 
capable of speech; whilst the veterinary profession had to deal 
with the whole family of domestic animals; some of which 
might have intelligence, but lacked the power of expressing it. 
The importance of the profession had never been felt more than 
during the last two or three years. He then referred to the enor¬ 
mous losses sustained in England and the United States through 
the neglect of the science and the destructive consequences of 
pleuro-pneumonia, the foot and mouth disease, and rinderpest. 
Kef erring to the spread of these diseases in the United States, 
he said that if they once crossed the Alleghany Mountains, the 
matter would be beyond the Government’s control. The Ameri¬ 
can Government had done nothing towards the support of the 
veterinary colleges, or the recognition of the graduates, except 
recently in the changed order of things in connection with the 
