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APPOINTMENTS OF VETERINARY SURGEONS. 
soon have one, now that it is decided that amalgamation shall 
at once take place, and then I trust this anomalous state 
of things will be got rid of. 
I am, &c., 
An Indian Army Veterinary Surgeon. 
To the Editors of c The Veterinarian .’ 
APPOINTMENTS OF VETERINARY SURGEONS 
TO THE INDIAN ARMY. 
England; May 10, 1861. 
Dear Sirs. —In reply to the correspondent in your last 
publication signing himself (( A Subscriber” I beg to inform him 
that the Indian Army does not stand alone in the non- work¬ 
ing of the Royal Warrant of 1st July, 1859. In Her 
Majesty's Royal Artillery there is not a single veterinary sur¬ 
geon out of the twenty-eight who can personally appreciate 
the honorary distinction set forth in the long-coveted warrant, 
although I find one member having over eleven years' ser¬ 
vice. 
The cavalry have even more to complain of, as I see by 
the * Army List' there are six veterinary surgeons in their 
sixth year, three in their seventh, three in their eighth, one in 
his ninth, and three in their thirteenth years' service. 
There is evidently something radically wrong in the work¬ 
ing of this fancied boon. If the army members of the pro¬ 
fession are not equal to the requirements of the warrant and the 
service, shunt them by all means, and let both the dignity of the 
profession and the warrant be upheld by suppyling men who 
are. At present the impression is strongly in favour of at¬ 
tributing allurement to the uninitiated in army mysteries, or, 
in other words, that it is akin to a myth. 
The subject is a delicate one for army men to touch upon, 
fearing, as a consequence, the booming of the Armstrong 
ordnance at Woolwich, and this may probably give rise to 
the apparent apathy which exists ; but now that it has been 
raised, I trust that it will not drop till justice is done to the 
profession, and the self-respect of army members upheld. 
As regards the latter part of your correspondent’s letter, 
the wording of the warrant is very plain upon the point. 
“ Veterinary surgeons, on appointment, rank as subalterns." 
Now, cornets, ensigns, and lieutenants are subaltern officers ; 
