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EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
The constitution of the British army, and the immense 
empire over which it is spread, embracing almost every 
variety of climate, but chiefly that of a tropical character, 
scarcely warrant our comparing the status of the veterinary 
surgeon who enters it with that of the army veterinary 
surgeon of any other country. The former is exposed to 
far greater risks from the effects of climate, suffers far more 
inconvenience from frequent changes of station, has to serve 
in regiments vastly more expensive, and has usually lo endure 
long periods of banishment from his native country. And 
within this century, veterinary surgeons have taken their 
share in every war in which Great Britain has been engaged, 
not only near home, but in the most distant parts of the 
earth. Yet in this long period, not one veterinary sur¬ 
geon in the army has been thought deserving of distinction 
by having conferred upon him the comparatively common 
decoration of Companion of the Bath. If we look to our 
colleagues in continental armies, France for example, we 
find a very different state of affairs. Almost every gazette 
contains the names of veterinary officers who are rewarded 
for meritorious service in the field or at home, by receiving 
different degrees of the Legion of Honour, while every en¬ 
couragement is given by a liberal and discerning government 
to foster talent and professional devotion, and the prosecution 
of those studies which enhance the services of professional men 
and largely benefit the country. The number of rewards 
distributed by the French government in the way of decora¬ 
tions, gold medals, and promotions is, in a year, some¬ 
thing astounding. And then, again, French army veterinary 
surgeons of the lower grades have ample prospect before them 
in the many professorships, staff appointments, and of prin¬ 
cipal veterinary surgeonships with which the French army 
abounds. 
Far otherwise is it with his confrere in the British army. 
After studying his profession and obtaining his diploma, he 
undergoes a much more severe examination for admission 
to the service than he underwent for access to the ranks of 
the profession, and if deficient in practical knowledge may 
have to spend much time in acquiring it before finally re- 
