EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
597 
medicinally supported, and in the end, saved: so satisfactory, indeed, 
has been the result, that now, three weeks from his dangerous state 
of depression, he is, freed from his rheumatic disorder, frolicking* 
in his box, calling out every time he sees his groom pass the door 
after a fresh supply of food. 
It may be, and has a right to be said, that this is but a solitary 
case to shew the efficacy of colchicum. It will, however, consi¬ 
dering all its bearings, not be denied to be one of an unusually con¬ 
vincing character, and consequently one concerning which we dare 
use stronger language than we should be warranted in doing about 
single cases in general. Tt bespeaks, in our estimation, other trials 
of colchicum for rheumatic affections in the horse, and at our hands 
the medicine certainly will have them. We know how uncertain 
has proved its virtue as a remedy for rheumatism in man ; at 
least, how varied and conflicting medical reports have made its 
properties; and the same may, possibly, turn out to be the case 
from its administration to horses. Still, it demands further trial; 
and we hope there are those among our readers who will, when 
opportunity shall offer, aid us in so important an investigation. 
We are sorry to see that, in the face of every effort the Council 
of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons have been and con¬ 
tinue to be making to bring matters of disagreement between the 
Royal Veterinary College and themselves to an amicable adjust¬ 
ment, the thorn in the charter which first pricked them so acutely, 
simply because it deprived them of a privilege which they never 
ought to have possessed, and which they never but under pressure 
of circumstances would have possessed, still rankles in the breasts 
of the Professors of that institution, and from time to time is break¬ 
ing out in fresh festerings and discharges. One of these eruptions, 
of more than ordinary extent and import, has been going the round 
of the newspapers as an advertisement, declaring that “ the pupils, 
after the prescribed course of study has been completed, are sub¬ 
jected to an examination by a board of examiners composed of 
eminent medical and veterinary practitioners, appointed by the 
Governors of the Institution, as to their proficiency in the veteri¬ 
nary art.” Now, we will put the question to any pupil at present 
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