EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
281 
in consequence of pleuro-pneumonia, remarks that a certain 
amount of mystery will be attached to the case ; we must 
confess that we fail to perceive the mystery. 
After the story of the cattle detained at Harwich we shall 
not he surprised to hear of an outbreak of the Siberian pest 
among foreign cattle landed at Battersea ; in fact, it is a 
subject of wonder that no one has yet pointed out the 
obviously close connection between the importation of foreign 
cattle and the potato disease; but with all this w r e must 
submit that a little mixture of fact, in reports which are 
calculated to excite apprehension, is always to be desired. 
There is no wish on our part to keep the public in ignorance 
of outbreaks of disease at home or abroad ; indeed, our pages 
every month contain accounts of such outbreaks ; but we 
protest against the publication of astonishing statements 
upon insufficient evidence. If we are receiving animals 
affected with lung disease from Holland or elsewhere, by all 
means let us know it. If the inspection at any of the ports 
is so inefficient that animals in a diseased condition are 
allowed to pass, to be detected a few hours afterwards by a 
more competent person, the remedy is simple ; but broad 
assertions, which reflect upon professional reputations and 
raise a question of the propriety of continuing importations 
of cattle from an important country, should be based upon 
something more reliable than the unmeaning talk of persons 
to whom the temptation to tell a “ good story” to a confiding 
listener is often too strong for their love of truth. 
THE CORPORATION OF LONDON AND THE PRACTICAL 
EXAMINATION. 
We are requested to state that the Council of the Royal 
College of Veterinary Surgeons has made satisfactory arrange- 
ments for carrying out the practical examinations. Having 
failed to obtain the consent of the Governors of the Royal 
Veterinary College to conduct the examinations within the 
walls of that Institution, the Council applied to the Corpo- 
ration of London, which has, through its Markets Committee, 
