96 
EDITORIAL. 
operation is a new one. The operation is by no means a new discovery, 
as mention of it is made in many French works, amongst the more recent 
we will name that of N. Serres, of the School of Toulouse. 
We have not seen Mr. Mills operate, and though his success may 
have been unparalleled in the archives of veterinary operative surgery, 
from the description which is given in one of his certificates we feel 
satisfied that there is, after all, no discovery in it, but merely a series of 
good luck , as all practitioners may come across in their practice, when 
called to perform the operation of castration. 
For the benefit of our readers we give, further, the modus operandi 
of the operation, without offering any reward for a better mode of cas¬ 
tration. Some variations may exist between it and that of Mr. Mills, 
but the general modus operandi , as far as we can understand, is the same. 
LIVED TOO LONG. 
Thanks to the kindness of one of our correspondents, Mr. Gadsden, 
we are able to present our readers two extracts from Philadelphia papers 
relating to the closing of the so-called Philadelphia Veterinary College, 
with the arrest, trial and conviction of Robert McClure. Incorporated 
in 1866 by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, this College could, no doubt, 
have the opportunities to succeed. But why did it fail ? We have no 
hesitancy in stating that from our observation we are satisfied that the 
failure can be attributed to two causes, which will always produce the 
same result. The first is, that the school was established with a pecuni¬ 
ary object in view; and the second, that the leading members of the 
school were unfit for the position they were trusted with. As a pecuni¬ 
ary point of view, it could not succeed, as all those who are engaged in 
that special work well know, that there is no millions in it. As being 
unfit for the position, we hold that to be able to teach, to understand 
the requirements of a class, to infuse to others rules of conduct for 
life, one must have been drilled himself in the same way; he must 
have obtained the title to his position through that same mill. Cer¬ 
tainly Robert McClure, the unqualified Veterinary practitioner, did not 
possess those requirements. 
