EDITORIAL. 
137 
rank of lieutenant-colonel, is given exclusively by selection of the 
War Ministry and is obtained only after five or six years of vet¬ 
erinary majorship. 
The principal veterinarian of first class, assimilated to the 
rank of colonel, is given only by selection after two years at least 
in the inferior rank. 
The highest rank in this organization is that of veterinary 
inspector of the entire service, with rank of general. 
Therefore, counting six years to get the rank of aide veter- 
inaire or sub-lieutenant, two more for that of second veterinary 
lieutenant, from nine to ten more for that of first or captain, from 
eight to ten more before getting to be major, from five to six to 
become lieutenant-colonel or first-class veterinarian, it will make 
a total of thirty-two years before one can be candidate for the 
generalship or veterinary inspector. 
* 
* * 
I hope this long consideration may be of some interest and 
that our good friends in the army may find in it the object that 
I had in view, viz., to join my voice to those of the many who 
have already spoken in favor of improvements for the position 
of the army veterinarian in the United States. If from the re¬ 
marks that I have laid in the above lines something of advantage 
can be gathered, my principal object will be realized. It is cer¬ 
tain that with the limited number of veterinarians in the Ameri¬ 
can army the hierarchy of the various ranks may not be as wide 
as the one we have considered. But I may, while making apol¬ 
ogies for the possible unnecessary details I have gone through, 
ask why not do with West Point what is done in the military 
schools of England, France and Germany? Any way is good to 
elevate the standing of the veterinarian, and perhaps that would.* 
* For a great part of the information contained in the above, I am indebted to the 
kindness of three Veterinary Officers here—Colonel Tacoulet, Colonel. Barrier and Veter¬ 
inary-Major Jolly—I am pleased to thank them for their willingness in. obtaining for me 
the facts relating to Saumur and the recruiting of the Veterinary Service in the French 
Army. 
