28 
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
bind us together in one friendly alliance, dismissing all mis¬ 
trust of each other, and causing us to work harmoniously 
as a whole. 
It may be said, this is merely an iteration of what has been 
before again and again advanced; it is but “ a thrice told 
tale.” Let it be so. Shakespeare has told us, “ there is 
always an element of good, even in things evil.” These re¬ 
peated statements have not been made in vain. All is not as 
the Valley of the Shadow of Death with us yet. There is no 
real cause for despondency, although there may be much to 
regret. We know of one bright spot, at any rate, on which 
the mental eye may rest with some degree of complacency 
—the pages of this Journal. No dark shadow has been cast 
over them, foreboding evil. In proof whereof we refer, with 
pride and satisfaction, to the increase of our contributors. 
With the past year we commenced the publication of a 
second series, and already the list contains between seventy 
and eighty names. We hail this as an omen for good. And 
may we not look upon the recent acts of the Council of the 
Hoyal College of Veterinary Surgeons as eminently con¬ 
ducive to the bringing about of a better feeling among the 
members, and ensuring their co-operation? We hope and 
believe them to be so. If the head be separated from the 
body politic, no true support can be given to it, and it must 
soon become a disintegrated mass, wanting both cohesion 
and strength. 
Cf After the night comes the day. 
After the darkness, dawn.” 
May our expectations be more than realised! 
We need not repeat the trite remark that the present age 
is pre-eminently one of mind-progress. One class of persons 
devotes its energies to the investigation of the past, another 
section contents itself with the all-important present, while 
a third manifests a restless endeavour to pry into the future, 
and all are entitled to our respect. To work for the interests 
of science, and that for the public good, should be the object 
steadily kept in view by every professional man. Principle 
