EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
177 
general's office; though, admitting all this, it was clearly 
unwise in either the authorities or himself, — in one to prac- 
tice, in the other to order any supposed or alleged cure for a 
disease without consulting veterinary officers. And here, 
very forcibly, is shown the need there is of a principal veteri- 
nary surgeon, in whom, at once, (at the Indian Horse Guards) 
reference could have been made on the spot. 
We do not deny the possibility of a captain, or any other 
unprofessional person having a liaison for veterinary matters, 
hitting by chance on a remedy or cure for even such a disease 
as bursautee ; though the probability of his doing so seems 
hardly more to be expected than the coming of a miracle. 
Let Captain Apperley only for a moment reflect on the 
position in which he has placed himself. The science of 
medicine is a very comprehensive one. It includes a know- 
ledge of anatomy, of physiology, of pathology, of chemistry, 
of pharmacy, &c., — all of them important branches of study, 
and which a student, by diligence and perseverance alone, 
can acquire. And yet here is Captain Apperley, who can 
clear all these studies at one leap, and make the terribly bold 
assertion that he is able to remedy that which has puzzled 
the whole Indian nation beside. Surely some benignant 
genius must have inspired him ; or else, whence could he 
have derived such vis medicatricis . The answer is, “ Why by 
dint of trial and practice, to be sure!” — “ Aye, and more, 
My remedy cures not bursautee only, but quittor as well ;” 
— a disease bearing no relationship to it whatever; and to 
make any comparison between them is like comparing “ a pig 
with a fortnight.” 
“Nay but,” says the Captain, “it may be all very well to 
talk to me about medicine ; let us come to the fact. Will the 
means I advocate, cure or remove bursautee ; or, will they 
not?” Facts are stubborn things; and by them let us be 
guided. Even so. We will not hazard an answer to these 
questions ourselves ; but we will hand them over to two of the 
oldest and most experienced of the veterinary surgeons of the 
Indian army, men whose judgment and repute have never 
been suspected, and by them we will abide, and be content 
that the question shall be set at rest. 
