396 
THE ARMY VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 
conception, was bound to furnish the regimental veterinary sur¬ 
geon with, a copy of which I subjoin: — 
“ Suitable clothing for horses when sick; bandages and cloths, 
or other means for the application of poultices; tow for the stop¬ 
ping of feet; kettles for the heating of water for fomentations, 
the making of mashes, and other purposes; fuel for these pur¬ 
poses; bleeding cans; instruments; means of casting horses 
with safety, and securing them in favourable positions for the 
performance of operations /’—The Hippiatrist , Aug. 1, 1830, 
p. 226. 
Not having cognizance of the specific nature of the contract, 
I repeat that I cannot of myself vouch for this list containing 
all that the contractor may be called on to supply: I can only 
say that, in my opinion, as the government allowance is a 
liberal one, the regiment demanding a supply has a right to 
expect all that is required in the veterinary department for it. 
The question has been more than once mooted, of the extreme 
unfitness of a person holding the situations Mr. Coleman does 
for an army contractor. It has been urged (and very reasonably) 
that a purveyorship of medicines was quite irreconcilable with 
his commission as principal veterinary surgeon to the cavalry ; 
and further, that as he was the lecturer who instructed the army 
veterinary surgeons in the knowledge of their profession, it be¬ 
came his interest, however his honourable feeling might oppose 
it, to point out to them, and recommend them to use such me¬ 
dicines, &c. as were to be purchased at a comparatively cheap 
rate. 
I have never entertained but one opinion on this point, and 
that has been, that it is alike discreditable and impolitic on the 
part of Mr. Coleman to appear in the character of contractor: for 
him who stands the acknowledged head of veterinary affairs, 
both civil and military, to place himself in the situation of a 
druggist—of a vender of bottles and bandages—I have ever 
looked upon as derogatory both to his professional rank and his 
acknowledged talents as a public teacher; besides subjecting' 
him, however unjustly, to animadversions such as cannot fail to 
arise in the mind of any one sufficiently acquainted with the na¬ 
ture of these incongruous offices to perceive how they might be 
turned to the advantage of the holder. 
It was a very unwise act of the government to place the con¬ 
tract for the supply of medicine in the hands of that very man 
by whose rules and instructions it was afterwards to be dis¬ 
pensed : it was still more unwise on the part of Mr. Coleman to 
apply for and receive such a contract. By this contract, he has 
placed himself in such a situation, that, if he recommends the 
