431 
EDITORS’ REPLY TO MR. C. CLARK. 
Remarks.—As a disease is of rare occurrence, so is it of the 
greatest importance that we should accurately notice its symptoms 
and progress; and it is on that account that 1 have so minutely 
detailed the preceding case. I have noted that rumbling noise in 
the belly to be a striking symptom of the disease ; and when it is 
heard, together with a tenseness of the abdomen, and a gait as if 
he was afraid he would burst, taking short steps and lifting his 
feet high, we may rely on the existence of water in the abdomen, 
and I would recommend the operation of paracentesis to be im¬ 
mediately performed. I am confident that, had I had recourse to 
this operation at the commencement of the disease, and followed 
it up with a brisk purge, I should have conquered the disease. 
THE VETERINARIAN , OCTOBER 1 , 1829 . 
(< 
Licet omnibus, licet etiam mihi, dignitatem artis velerinariae tueri.”— Cicero. 
MR. Charles Clark has called on us to inform him (page 440 
of the present number) “ on what grounds” we “ have so repeat¬ 
edly styled” the Veterinary College “ a national institution.^ 
We profess not “to be in possession of the superior informa¬ 
tion” to which Mr. Clark somewhat sneeringly alludes. On this 
point, the sources of “ information” are equally open to Mr. 
Clark, ourselves, and the public. The history of the Veterinary 
College will alone decide its claim to be denominated what we 
have “ styled it”—what it was intended to be—what, with all 
its corruptions, it has never wholly ceased to be—and what, ere 
long, it shall again fully be, “ a national institution .” 
What was its origin ? 
Veterinary science had made rapid progress in most of the con¬ 
tinental states, while, in England, the treatment of horses and 
cattle continued to be left in the hands of the ignorant and brutal 
farrier, to the injury of the agriculturist and the disgrace of the 
country. This was keenly felt by many patriotic individuals; 
and the Odiham Agricultural Society took the lead in endeavour¬ 
ing to remedy the evil. They determined to send two young 
men to the French college for “ instruction in scientific farriery” 
(see “ An Account of the Veterinary College,” published by order 
of the Directors in 1793), and they solicited subscriptions to effect 
this purpose. * 
