EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
335 
Accidents* over which we have little or no control* occur¬ 
ring to animals pro tern, in our keeping, we are, it appears, 
held legally responsible for, and consequently it behoves 
every member of the Profession to be doubly on his guard 
for the removal of every probable cause which may give rise 
to them. No human foresight can guard against every pos¬ 
sible cause, and as such we should imagine the law deals 
differently with such cases as these. Customs prevail in all 
trades, and to that of the men receiving as a perquisite the 
parings of the feet of the horses sent to a forge to be shod 
is to be traced the present untoward result. See then that 
this, and all other customs, if allowed to remain, are so regu¬ 
lated, that injurious consequences are avoided. 
Hereafter we may return to this subject, as we have forcibly 
thrust upon our minds the necessity of some means being 
adopted for mutual protection of the members of the pro¬ 
fession, by the creation of a “ defence fund,” according to a 
suggestion put forth some time since by Assistant-Professor 
Varnell. 
THE COLEMAN MEDAL. 
In our number for March we announced the determination 
of the Governors of the Royal Veterinary College to ap¬ 
propriate the accumulated bequest of the late Professor 
Coleman to the purchase of silver and bronze medals, to be 
presented annually to the students of the College, for the best 
essays on a given subject, believing that by so doing the 
intention of the donor would be fulfilled—that of promoting 
the advancement of the science of veterinary medicine. 
During the past month the competition for this year 
took place. The subject was, ‘The Eye of the Horse, em¬ 
bracing its Anatomy and Physiology; the laws of light apper¬ 
taining to vision; the chemical composition of the humours ; 
