584 
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
structure must ever be wanting in stability. Long, far too 
long, was mere routine allowed to have its sway. No 
light by it illumed the art of veterinary medicine—for 
science it could not then be designated—and it was only after 
the establishment of the schools that the genial and invigo¬ 
rating influence of scientific truth was felt. We have pro¬ 
gressed hitherto; slowly it may be, yet much has been 
accomplished. Let us not lose what we have gained. 
Well was it recently said by Mr. Gladstone, that “the 
advancement which is now taking place is a fact full of 
meaning; it is an indication of the movements of the times, 
and the development of those faculties by which man is 
fitting himself more and more by the efforts of each genera¬ 
tion in succession to contend with those difficulties of out¬ 
ward nature amidst which Providence has placed him for 
the purpose of evoking his energies, and to make the gifts 
and bounties of Providence available for his comfort and his 
happiness. This is the opening almost of a new chapter in 
the condition of man. I do not mean that it is the begin¬ 
ning of such efforts, but it is the beginning of them on a 
new scale, with a new system, with new appliances, and 
with new means for the intercommunication and inter¬ 
change of knowledge; and it marks the fact that in the 
list of elements that belong to human civilisation these 
great operations of art and science, applied to the external 
world, must henceforward be included, and hold a con¬ 
spicuous place. And it will be our own fault if the addition 
of that new chapter fail to be a great blessing. There is 
no reason why it should displace anything. All these 
things ought to continue to grow and thrive, and that 
which we introduce we ought to add to what we have 
enjoyed before, and not substitute for what we have been 
enjoying. The principle of the divine life in man must 
continue to animate his existence if he is to exist for any 
purpose of good. The cultivation of his intellect, the study of 
the beautiful in all its varied phases—these should continue 
to thrive ; and let us see without jealousy the development of 
new powers in the mind of man, or new applications of those 
powers, in order to meet the unfolding wants of society.” 
Me have adverted to the injustice that would be done to 
