THE RELATION OF VETERINARY SCIENCE TO AGRICULTURE. 127 



spread the germs of disease often in a most alarming manner ; indeed so preva- 

 lent were these diseases on such occasions that their immediate cause was 

 thought to be the result of depletion from the fatigue and exposure of a long 

 campaign. To-day we have navies of steamships and armies of railroad cars 

 to take 'he place of the invading foe — the former to import, the latter to- 

 scatter the germs of disease broadcast through the land. Happily for us this 

 wholesale dissemination of virus is in a measure prevented by tiie establishment 

 of quarantine stations at various ports of entry. 



At this point I think it would not be out of place for me to say a word or two 

 in reference t > the collection and dissemination in this country of certain know- 

 ledge bearing, I may say, iiijmediately upon the relation of veterinary science 

 to agriculture, and perhaps I cannot do so in better terms than by quoting 

 from a recent report of the commissioner of agriculture at Washington, in 

 which he says : The call upon the agricultural department for veterinary 

 investigation has been very great during the past year (1882). 



The sudden and unaccountable outbreak of disease among domestic animals 

 has been a matter of great anxiety in many portions of the country. 



As the number of our cattle, horses, sheep and swine increases the outbreak 

 of contagious diseases also increases. The annual disturbances, moreover, inci- 

 dent to the work and confinement to which all classes of animals are subjected 

 which are held in immediate domestication, also increase as our population, 

 grows more and more dense. 



To meet the calls which this state of affairs creates the department has been, 

 obliged to depend on such temporary and outside service as could be obtained. 

 The absence of a well organized veterinar}' division has been severely felt and 

 it is of the utmost importance that such a division should be established 

 in which all investigation can be directed by a com|>etent head and on which 

 the owners of live stock can call for counsel and aid. It is important to know 

 the precise extent of existing disease; it is important to know how to guard 

 against the spread of contagion and how to provide for its removal; it is important 

 to know, if possible, the most economical remedies for disease and how best to 

 avoid the vast annual loss of animals from bad treatment and exposure. It i& 

 important, also, to ascertain by the most careful investigation, the breeds best 

 adapted to the different localities and purposes in our country. To do this a 

 well organized division of veterinary inquiry and animal industry is absolutely 

 necessary. I may add that since then this bureau has been established with a 

 veterinarian at its head, among whose duties it is to investigate various diseases 

 which affect our live stock and tell, if possible, what the causes are and the 

 best means to* prevent them, as well as the remedies which will overcome their 

 influences when they can be discovered. As an evidence of the good work this 

 bureau is doing I have only to refer to their first annual report. Besides this 

 and during the last year or two, individual states have in many instances estab- 

 lished live stock sanitary commissions to combat the advance of contagious dis- 

 ease. Our own state is among the number which have adopted this institution. 



Eeverting again to our course of lectures at the college and its relation to 

 agriculture, let me once more call attention to some of the commissioner's 

 expressions. First he says : "It is important to know how beet to avoid the 

 vast annual loss of animals," to which I may say that as one step in the right 

 direction towards overcoming this evil, we propose at the college to study the 

 causes of disease, and in this connection I think I am right when I say that 

 among the greatest benefits our college course of veterinary science will be to 

 the farmer or stock raiser, is the knowledge a careful student may gain by 



< 



