t 
ARMY VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 
[Continued from Vol. iii, p. 581.] 
. Before I proceed with my investigations into this subject, I 
must solicit the patience of my reader, while I pause to congra¬ 
tulate, not so much myself, as the cause I am advocating, on 
the accession of such an able fellow-labourer as “ Another 
Army Veterinarian.” Would that many such could be found to 
ply the oars with us; our cause, then (so meritorious in itself), 
might be rendered doubly worthy of attention from the number 
and strength of its supporters. For my own part, 1 hail this 
friendly luminary as a companion on my road : he has cheered 
me to proceed, and, with the renewed vigour I have derived, 
permit me now to do so. 
In my two former communications I have, in one place or an¬ 
other, harped a good deal on the importance and respectability 
of the veterinary profession ; in particular that portion of it whose 
services are devoted to the army. To such as have no other 
knowledge of the veterinary art and its followers than they 
happen to catch from its practice in some blacksmith's shop in 
the country, these terms may appear to be, in this place, 
strangely perverted, or altogether misapplied: it is very natural for 
such persons to inquire what “respectability” or even “impor¬ 
tance ” can possibly attach to a Iow r dirty shop of such a nature ; 
or how can those who are in anywise allied to such a low calling 
have any thing to do w ith such terms. 
To put an end to all such notions (which, by the by, at the 
present day, are not very likely to have origin or existence in the 
mind of any person whose opinion is of consequence to us), I 
imagine it will be allowed, that an art that can be demon¬ 
strated to be highly and universally useful to society is impor¬ 
tant ; and that, should that art be such as can only be attained 
by the study of a highly cultivated and intricate science, it 
demands men of liberal education, of respectability , for its pro¬ 
fessors. The veterinary art will not be found to be deficient 
in either of these relations; either as concerns its usefulness to 
mankind, or its demands upon science: in a word, in both re¬ 
spects it occupies the next place to human medicine itself; and 
further than this, there cannot be the least necessity for one w ord 
more on the subject of “ importance and respectability.” 
My last letter gave an account of the way in w hich veterinary 
appointments in the army were obtained at the present day. I said 
that, lor any person to procure a commission, it was necessary 
that his name should stand upon the list kept by the secretary to 
