Page:Introductory lecture delivered to the class of military surgery in the University of Edinburgh, May 1, 1855 (IA b21916469).pdf/14

13 first penned some forty years ago, will serve to show yon:—"It may be very possible for a surgeon when lying quietly in garrison or cantonment to furnish provisions for his sick without much additional trouble; but whenever his regiment comes to be employed in active operations against an enemy, all his talents and exertions are then required in his proper capacity, and he has his hands abundantly full without having the complicated concerns of a victualling department to attend to. It by no means follows, that because a man is a good surgeon he should be a good commissary also, and it is obvious that whatever tends to withdraw his attention from the study and practice of his professional duties must ultimately prove injurious to the service." I have said much more on this subject in the passage from which I quote, but enough to show, that my opinions are not made for the occasion; and I will only add, that I see little that the surgeon has to do with the purveyor, except to demand from him the necessary supplies for the sick, and to report him to the General if they are not forthcoming.

It was not, however, with the differences between the purveyors and the medical officers