550 DEFENCE OF PRIVATE VETERINARY PRACTITIONERS, 
department placed upon a better footing; of seeing its condition 
yet greatly ameliorated and improved ; for I am confident, if all 
this were represented in its right light and in the proper quarter, 
it would be “ amended.” 
I shall only say more, that I hope this communication may be 
found worthy of being placed, as a corroborative adjunct, by the 
side of that of my talented comrade; and that our united efforts 
may be productive of some good to our degraded cast, is the 
ardent wish of Another Army Veterinarian. 
DEFENCE OF PRIVATE VETERINARY PRACTITIONERS, 
AND ON VETERINARY REFORM. 
To the Editors of “ The Veterinarian 
u Proprium est stultitiae aliorum vitia cernere, 
Oblivisci suorum.” 
Gentlemen, 
It was not my intention to have entered upon a controversial 
subject in your valuable pages, as I presume that that was not 
the original intention of your journal, but to form a public chan¬ 
nel for each member of the veterinary profession, however hum¬ 
ble, to add his share of knowledge to the general stock. I feel 
myself bound, however, to refute the unjust imputations on coun¬ 
try veterinarians generally, by the Army Correspondent in 
your last Number. I am at a loss to find language sufficiently 
strong to express my feelings upon such a document; and parti¬ 
cularly so, as that gentleman wishes it to be understood, that 
nearly all the respectability of our humble profession is due to 
the rank of the army veterinary department . Really, gentle¬ 
men, I think such an assumption would not have been made by 
an intelligent person; and in my humble opinion it is incompati¬ 
ble with respectability and gentlemanly conduct. Probably 
there are some veterinary surgeons gazetted to different regi¬ 
ments of cavalry, and others practising the art in the country, 
whose early circumstances prevented them from receiving a clas¬ 
sical education; but permit me to ask, whether it can be proved 
that such persons are not as much interested in the future 
welfare of the veterinary profession as those to whom fortune has 
been more favourable ? But are such individuals to be denied the 
benefit of a public institution, or treated with contempt because 
their circumstances and education exclude them from the higher 
ranks of society; or is Mr. Coleman to be branded with infamy 
