458 
EXAMINATION OF PUFILS; &C. 
that, “ let the form of the animal be as perfect as passible, except 
there is a peculiar feeling of the skin, he will never answer for 
grazing or stall-feeding.” It might also be said, he will not make 
good beef; for, hard to the touch, and hard beef, are synonymous 
terms. I cannot, however, persuade my French butcher of this 
truth. He buys too much by the eye; and although most of his 
oxen and heifers may be called fine cattle to look at, two-thirds of 
them are hard beef. 
A letter in a Shrewsbury journal from the pen of my old ac¬ 
quaintance, Mr. R. Hickman, V.S., lately attracted my notice; 
and may I be allowed to make an observation upon the subject of 
it ]—Mr. Hickman is of opinion that the examination of veterinary 
pupils should be continued to be confided to the present examiners, 
and not to professors of the veterinary art. On this important 
subject, perhaps, much may be said on both sides; still, were I to 
have a valuable horse diseased, to whom should I look for the 
remedy 1—to the most eminent surgeon in London, or to a skilful 
veterinary surgeon ] To the latter, undoubtedly. Nevertheless it 
is quite possible that the presence of such men as Sir Astley 
Cooper might tend to the advance of knowledge and science in a 
profession which, compared with his own, may be said to be in 
somewhat of an infantine state. 
One^ word more touching Mr. Coleman. In that excellent work 
called “ The Horse,” published by the Society for Promoting Use¬ 
ful Knowledge, he is represented as stating (p. 27) that not one 
horse in a thousand receives glanders from contagion; and in 
allusion to the great loss sustained in those of the artillery by this 
disease on their passage to Quiberon Bay, in the expedition under 
Lord Moira, he attributes it to their having been shut down in the 
holds of the transports, and, consequently, breathing foul air. I 
lately came across the gentleman who had the command of those 
horses, who declares that the infection was the consequence of 
their having been placed in stables at Southampton, previous to 
embarkation, in which a large number of Hanoverian horses, glan- 
dered, had been kept; that the hatchways were only shut down 
for a few hours; and that the horses arrived at Quiberon Bay in 
good health. Mr. Coleman,” said he, “ was in error when he 
assigned foul air and bad food as the cause of glanders. Rain on 
the loins, producing cold upon cold, is the most fruitful source, as 
my experience of horses in camp and on picket has very satis¬ 
factorily proved.” 
Now, my dear Sir, one word touching yourself. I rejoice to 
hear you are recovered from your long and painful illness: was 
it not occasioned by too much bodily and mental exertion ? Your 
friends say it was. Let me, then, recommend the use of what we 
