The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-15
VETERINARIANS IN DEMAND
Difficulties Experienced by the Blu
reau of Animal Industry.
DR.. Salmon Declares the United
States backward in the Develop
ment of This Important Science.
Progress in European Countries.

menJ OF This Important science.
Progress in European Countries.
THE Bureau of Animal Industry has
always had difficulty in getting slhh-
cient number of properly educated veteri-
narians for its work" SAYS DR. d E
Salmon. its chief. apropos of the closing
OF the Harvard Veterinary School Our
inspectors must all be graduates of veJsri
nary. colleges. and our trouble has always
been that too many Of the schools have
had q short and insufficient course OF in
struction. Their graduates have not been
educated with enough thOroughness to
pass oar examinations; even in recent
tests only one-fOuTth or One-third Of
those who took the examination have
been able TO get through This reveals
not only the reasonable severity of our
requirements, but also the backward con-
dition of veterinary instruction in the
United States.
Last year the Bureau of Animal IN
dustry inspected the carcasses of $780,
Olg animals intended for human consump-
ton, in addition TO the inspection OF live
animals; there is, besides, the inspection
of milk. Of the COWS that give the milk, OF
the condition Of the barns in which they
are kept, and many other things that only
q
pervise. 1t is becoming apparent that the
care and treatment of the horse Is only
q small part of the real work of the vet
Urinary school, although that is highly
important branch
1T was not until the middle of the
eighteenth century that veterinary
schools We're established and systematic
instruction IN animal pathology was be-
gun Before that time there had been
published some remarkable treatises of
animals, but the building up of the sci
eace max be saI,z e have had its begin
ming at the foundation OF the schools
dedicated to the investigation and teach
ing of veterinary medicine The first vet
Urinary school was established at Lyons.
Franch. in 176I; the second at Abort, near
Paris, in 100 These were followed by
one at Copenhagen in I573- Vienna In 1lI5.
Berlin in 1879. and London IN 1871
THE beginning of the nineteenth cen
tury therefore, found veterinary instruc-
ton in progress in the principal countries
of Europe and considerable literature
suitable for textbooks already accessible
The study Of the subject was stimulated
not only by the establishment Of the
schools, but by the invasion of deadly
epizootics, which had followed the course
Of the armies TO all parts Of the Continent,
and which threatened the humiliation OF
the domesticated animals. knowledge Of
these plaques and the best means Of con-
trolling them had become essential to the
existence of animal husbandry and the
maintenance Of the food supply. The ac-
cumulation Of facts and correct views
concerning these diseases was the great
est task Of the veterinary profession, and
the progress Of this work is perhaps the
Fzsr esarE-al Indication rz- M ar
cepted in regard 10 the development Of
animal pathology.
Methods OF treating animals before the
esta bHshrnent Of these schools We're crude
and usually DarbarOus- II was impossible
10 differeutiate between the diseases OF
animals; they were all Jumbled together.
To one who attempts now 10 90 through
the Uteratureture Of this subject prior 70
the establishment Of the schools, il is al
most impossible to understand even what
diseases are under discussion
The great work IN the treatment Of the
horse has been IN discriminating between
the different diseases. first describing
them TO determine their nature. With that
have come improved methods Of cure, SC
that veterinary medicine and human med
icine have progressed side by side. W hlle
diseases OF the horse brought into Europe
by the returning armies usually became
epidemic and swept with violence over a
wide range Of country, this has not been
the sole source Of such outbreaks. OHI
own influenza in 1872. or the epizoOtiC' az
IL was commonly called, was an example
OF the wide reach Of such distempers- That
started in Canada. and extended south
westward over this country, hardly any
horses escaped In this particular Gisea Sc
there were Few deaths and with the best
treatment then available there need have
been only very small percentage. That
was the last outbreak Of its kind.
-'oUr army is more backward in respect
to veterinary science than almost any
other IN the world In the European
countries they have an organized yeter-
mary corps, and the veterinaries are com
nalssioned officers with authority to put
into effect proper measures Of treatment.
Our War Department has insisted upon
keeping The veterinarians as attaches OF
the army, not as enlisted men or as com