694 
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS.. 
attained. That the horse, when captured alive, was occa- 
sionally mounted in sport, is not unlikely, and that many 
accidents were thereby occasioned is also far from improbable, 
but that the primitive wild horse was ever caught and ridden , 
is not for an instant to be credited. Before such an act 
could be performed, man himself had to learn the equestrian 
art. 
A foal was caught and reared. Bad treatment, or such 
treatment as a savage would bestow, weakened the spirit of 
the captive, and taught man to cast aside much of his fear. 
The poor enervated brute was practised upon till the human 
race became somewhat familiar with its habits. At first it 
was an ornament to the cabin, and by slow degrees only was 
it brought to share its master’s labour. Ages would pass 
away in the joint education of the man and beast, before 
even this slight advance was made, during which other foals 
would have been caught and reared. The race bred in and 
in, and something of the original disposition was eradicated 
by the propagation of the species in a state of bondage rather 
than domestication ; but of that original disposition w T e shall 
treat hereafter. 
THE VETERINARIAN, DECEMBER 1, 1854. 
Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat. — Cicero. 
Once more, w 7 e find ourselves penning a leader for the 
concluding month of another old year— of a year which has 
proved (indeed, is proving), terribly disastrous, and yet 
glorious to us as a nation ; costing us loss of lives of country- 
men most dear, and of horses most valuable, and depriv- 
ing us of services of both, at a critical juncture too, w 7 hen 
such deprivation is turning out sorely lamentable to us. 
Both men and horses have bravely fought, both have nobly 
fell ; and now T lie prostrate, lifeless carcases upon the battle 
field, doomed to become the prey of the Cossack — the one 
eagerly sought after on account of his splendid and costly 
uniform, the other for food to satisfy the depraved appetite 
of the ruthless plunderer. 
We read w T ith much satisfaction and gratitude accounts of 
