CORRESPONDENCE. 407 
their time and talents to a science that is not appreciated by the 
public; for few men are inclined to live a life of hardship and 
self-denial for a glory they shall never know. That a man must 
necessarily be a genius to successfully teach veterinary science 
is not a self-evident truth, as appears to be assumed by the critic 
quoted from above, yet the vital question which presents itself 
with regard to the new veterinary school of Iowa is as to 
whether the University has done the best she could, or even so 
well as she should, in the selection of her teachers, for upon this 
fact depends the value of the work done and the efficiency of the 
veterinarians that are to be made. Of that part of the Faculty 
which is constituted of physicians, nothing is now to be said, for 
there can be no question as to their ability to teach some of the 
branches pertaining to veterinary medicine; but of the one 
“ Veterinary Professor” who advertises to make veterinary sur¬ 
geons in “two years” of about eight months each, the profession 
has a right to inquire as to his ability and professional standing. 
Who is Mr. Stalker that he should set himself up as a “ Prof.” 
of veterinary medicine in the University of Iowa ? We will see ! 
About six weeks after the opening of the session of the American 
Veterinary College (winter 1875-6), Mr. Stalker, of Iowa, ap¬ 
plied for admission and took out tickets for part of the course 
only. During the last two-thirds of a session, then, he attended 
the lectures given upon certain subjects and ignored the others, 
thereby depriving himself of any claim to having attended one 
prescribed course at this college. According to his owq ad¬ 
missions in the July number of the Review of 1877, he arrived 
at Toronto the “middle of November,” 1876, where he attended 
the Veterinary College and received its diploma about the first of 
April, ’77. Did he attend but part of the lectures there as he 
had done in New York the winter before ? Does any surgeon who 
has a respect for the veterinary profession, or for himself, believe 
that this was an honorable entrance to a respectable profession ? 
And does Toronto continue to make veterinary surgeons in this 
same disreputable way ? Has the State of Iowa and the pro 
fession any guarantee that a teacher who does not scruple to 
gain entrance to the profession in such a manner will be any 
