612 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



couragement of animal husbandry, and that the first step toward 

 the encouragment of animal husbandry must be the protection of 

 animals from aAoidable disease. Thus it is that in the old world 

 the veterinary colleges antedate the agricultural colleges, and it 

 is for the same reason that the word ''veterinary" has priority, for 

 example, in the name of the Boyal Veterinary and Agricultural 

 College of Denmark. 



The prevalent and most destructive diseases of animals when these 

 veterinary schools were instituted were the very rapidly spreading, 

 quickl}' developing, and in many instances highly fatal maladies, 

 such as rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease, contagious pleuro-pneu- 

 monia, anthrax, glanders and sheep pox. Some of these diseases 

 from the suddenness of their onset, and their high mortality may 

 properl}^ be designated as explosive. Within a short time one of 

 them may spread over a district and involve a large part of the 

 animal population. All of these diseases have been brought under 

 control by the application of knowledge developed by veterinarians, 

 and taught in veterinary schools. Although occasional outbreaks 

 of some of them still occur in civilized countries, none of these dis- 

 eases prevails extensively at this time, except in remote, partly 

 civilized regions or in restricted areas in civilized countries, and 

 then usually for only a relatively short period. 



The gain from this advance is immeasurable, as is shown by 

 the fearful destruction wrought within limited areas by pleuro- 

 pneumonia and foot-and-mouth disease during their occurrence in 

 this country. Pause for a moment and try to estimate the con- 

 dition that would exist here if these diseases had been permitted to 

 escape beyond veterinary control. In the first place, our export 

 trade in live cattle would immediately have been extinguished. 

 Second, it would be absolutely impossible to keep cattle on the open 

 ranges, as is shown by the destruction of the cattle industry of 

 Australia by contagious pleuropneumonia, a fact which forced 

 Australia into sheep production. Third, the purchaser of cattle 

 from a distance would be exposed to dangers similar to those that 

 now encompass the men who purchase hogs that have been shipped 

 through public stockyards. Every one who purchased a. steer for 

 feeding, or a milch cow to add to his dairy herd would take the 

 risk, which in many cases would be realized of infecting his herd 

 with a destructive disease. In other words the whole character of 

 the cattle business of the country would be changed. The loss to 

 the nation would be as great as from a war with a great power, 

 and to cattle owners it would be unbearable. Fortunately, these 

 disease were not permitted to escape from control, and by the appli- 

 cation of intelligent veterinary measures they have been completely 

 extirpated. The veterinary profession does not receive from animal 

 husbandry the credit for this achievement that it deserved. 



As two other illustations of advantage to animal husbandry from 

 the application of discoveries in veterinary medicine, I will refer to 

 Texas fever and "milk fever." 



Texas fever is a disease caused by a minute animal parasite that 

 inhabits the red blood corpuscles of cattle. This parasite is carried 

 from animal to animal by the Texas cattle tick. In the early history 

 of the country this disease was each year distributed widely in the 



