92 
THE POSITION OF THE ARMY VETERINARY 
SURGEONS IN INDIA. 
October, 1862. 
Dear Sirs, —As no notice has as yet been taken in the 
Veterinarian of the recent appointment of a Principal Vete¬ 
rinary Surgeon in India, I have assumed that you have 
received no information on the subject, or doubtless you 
would have referred to it as a step in the right direction. 
Some months ago a Government general order appeared in 
Bombay, authorising the appointment of a principal veterinary 
surgeon for that presidency, as an experimental measure^ and 
nominating Staff Veterinary-Surgeon Hallen for the office. 
A code of rules was also published at the same time for the 
guidance of the whole veterinary department of Bombay. 
I sincerely hope the experiment may prove a successful 
one, and lead to appointments of the same kind being made 
in the other Presidencies of India. In my humble opinion, 
no better selection could have been made than that of Mr. 
Hallen, though some objection might be raised on the ground 
of his comparatively junior standing in the service. 
On the Bengal side of India nothing has as yet been done 
to assimilate the veterinary department to that of England ; 
and there appears to.be no immediate prospect of any steps 
being taken to carry out the terms of the warrant, which was 
published more than three years ago. Not a single veterinary 
surgeon of the Bengal army has as yet been promoted, while 
several in Bombay were raised to the superior grades hang ago. 
Why is this? Surely there are some men amongst us who 
are deserving of promotion ! That there are man}’- who are 
anxious to obtain it I can testify; but the question arises. 
To whom are they to apply, and how 
This suspense is very disheartening. 
I have often heard both military and medical officers express 
their surprise at the fact of our having no head to our depart¬ 
ment in India; but I trust the day may soon come when this 
very antiquated state of things shall end. 
Do you not think that some change should be made in our 
rate of pay according to the service? At present, a vete¬ 
rinary surgeon in India, whether belonging to the royal or 
local service, receives the pay of a cornet of cavalry during 
his first ten years in the country; of a lieutenant for the 
second ten years; and of a captain after twenty years. Even 
those, few though they be, of the Bengal army who have 
