304 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECORD. 



due in part to the better understanding of the function of the ex- 

 periment station by the farmer, the many urgent demands upon the 

 veterinarian in direct connection with the teaching and research 

 work, and finally to the stringent requirements of the research work 

 conducted under the Adams Act. 



In this connection it is interesting to note that during 1906, the 

 first year in which grants were made under the Adams fund, there 

 were twenty projects accepted as feasible for veterinary research or 

 related thereto, while in 1913 the projects in progress numbered about 

 fifty. Some of the projects have already been satisfactorily com- 

 pleted. Interesting results have also been obtained under the Hatch 

 Act and from other funds. Some of these concern veterinary medi- 

 cine directly and others are intimately connected with it, although 

 primarily chemical, physiological, or public health problems. 



One of the most interesting developments of recent years has 

 been the increasing realization by the veterinary profession itself of 

 the need of more adequate training in the agricultural colleges and 

 other institutions. Of late the strong demand for more accurate and 

 fundamental research work has likewise been most encouraging. 



Perhaps no one factor has done more to impress upon veterinarians 

 engaged in research this need of a broad scientific training than the 

 discovery of the complexity of many of their most important prob- 

 lems and of their close relationships with other sciences. Some of 

 these phases were well illustrated at the recent meeting of the asso- 

 ciation. For instance, one of the features of tlie convention was the 

 symposium on forage poisoning in horses, or so-called equine cere- 

 brospinal meningitis, in which the section on sanitary science and 

 police and the section on veterinary medicine participated. In the 

 discussion a number of veterinarians engaged in experiment station, 

 college, or state work took part, and much prominence was given to 

 the theory that the disease is caused by moldy feed or fodder other- 

 wise contaminated with micro-organisms, etc. The relations of the 

 enzyms as factors in producing toxic products, such as the liberation 

 of hydrocyanic acid from glucosids through the agency of emulsin- 

 like enzyms, were also considered. The discussion made it very ap- 

 parent that veterinarians who intend to keep up with the various 

 diseases to which live stock is subject must not only be trained in the 

 laboratory and clinical branches of veterinary medicine as they are 

 taught in most colleges to-day, but also that they must give increased 

 attention to the biological sciences, such as biological chemistry, phar- 

 macodynamics, botany (cryptogamic as well as phanerogamic), and 

 zoology. This is especially true of those who intend to engage in 

 experiment station and other research work where the standard of 

 requirement is bound to become high. 



