NOVEMBER, 1879. 
ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 
THE TRUE POSITION OF VETERINARY SCIENCE, 
AND 
THE REQUIREMENTS NECESSARY TO ITS 
PROPER STUDY. 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE, 
Delivered at the opening of the Winter Session of the American Veterinary College, 
New Ycrlc, October Vd, 1879, 
BY 
Professor Frederick A. Lyons, A.M., M.D. 
Gentlemen :—We read, in the history of the ancient Egypt¬ 
ians, that in many of their magnificent temples, whose monumen¬ 
tal ruins still exist, there stood in the inmost recesses a statue 
carved in stone. The figure was that of a female, and the face 
was covered by a long, heavy veil that completely concealed her 
features. On the forehead was an inscription, which translated, 
read thus : “ I am what I am , and no mortal has ever yet un¬ 
covered my face.' 1 ’’ No words that have ever been written ex¬ 
press a more profound and far-reaching truth than those. The 
goddess Isis, whom the figure represented, was intended to,per¬ 
sonify nature, and the veil that draped its folds over her features 
expressed the impenetrable mystery that surrounded her. 
It is also related that pilgrims came from far and near to wor- 
