THE EDITOR. 
571 
Veterinarian never met with the encouragement that it de- 
served from those who called themselves the heads of the profes- 
sion. Unwarranted agitation, even if there were some cause for 
displeasure, might, under present circumstances, be productive of 
considerable mischief. 
As to the plan of Mr. Morton, that members should give their 
opinions freely, but clothed in language only understood by the 
educated and scientific man, I fear that it would with difficulty 
be carried into execution ; for we have already a tolerably goodly 
number of hard words in our professional writings, which serve 
no other purpose than to occupy a large portion of the student’s 
time and burden his memory : still I acknowledge that there is 
no necessity to speak quite so plainly as some of our corre- 
spondents occasionally do. 
From Mr. W. Percivall, M.R.C.S., fy V.S. Life Guards. 
I did not see the August Number of The Veterinarian 
until last night. If I understand you aright, you desire to know r 
what 1 think about the publication of cases and recipes in The 
Veterinarian, in regard to the interests of the practising vete- 
rinary surgeon. As a military veterinarian, and one that has 
never been in private practice, my opinions, I fear, can have little 
weight ; still, since you have expressed a wish to have them, 
your desire shall be complied with. 
Nearly allied as we are in science to human medicine, and alike 
in many respects as our courses of practice are, it is natural for 
us to inquire into the current opinions of surgeons on the same 
subject. We find the medical journals promulgating without 
any reserve whatever, and, I believe, without any exception 
among them, cases and formulae, and we hear no complaints 
made against them for so doing. Why, then, are veterinary 
journals not to do the same ? There appears a reason why the 
same asserted “ harm” is not likely to accrue in an equal ratio in 
the practices of the human and veterinary surgeon ; and that is, that 
inasmuch as, in humanity, the life of a horse will not bear compa- 
rison with the life of a man, as the laws of the land take cogniz- 
ance of the former and not of the latter, so a person will feel dis- 
posed to tamper with one, when he dares not meddle with the 
other. The sole consideration with a worldly-minded man, when 
his horse happens to be sick or lame, is, how much the animal 
cost, or is worth to him, and to what amount the doctor’s bill is 
likely to run, should he call in a veterinary surgeon ; and again, 
whether or not he, with some favourite recipe of his own, is not 
