EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XXIX. September, 1913. No. 4. 



The fiftieth annual meeting of the American Veterinary Medical 

 Association, which was held at the Hotel Astor, New York City, 

 from September 1 to 5, marks an epoch in the history of veterinary 

 medicine, a profession which is intimately interwoven with the art 

 of agriculture. It is now more than fifty years since, on June 9, 

 3 863, the first meeting was held at the Astor House by a small group 

 of veterinarians for the purpose of forming the United States 

 Veterinary Medical Association. Of this group of men the only one 

 alive to-day is Dr. Alexander Liautard, now of Paris, one of the 

 founders of the New York-American Veterinary College, which, 

 under a new charter, has recently been declared the state veterinary 

 college of eastern New York and is affiliated with New York Uni- 

 versity. 



Some of the notable advances which the veterinary profession has 

 achieved during the past half century were briefly referred to by Dr. 

 John R. Mohler, of this Department, in his presidential address to 

 the association. As he pointed out very aptly, " the acquirement of 

 knowledge in the domain of animal diseases during the last five dec- 

 ades has been constant and amazing and compares favorably with 

 the progress in other branches of science which has attracted the ad- 

 miration of the world. . . . What a revolution in veterinary thought 

 and practice has resulted can be appreciated only by comparing the 

 text-books of twenty-five years ago with those of the present day." 

 Much of this advance dates from the classic experiments of Pasteur, 

 who. working on the theory that resistance to a disease could be pro- 

 duced by causing a mild attack of the affection, was able to secure 

 immunity against a number of diseases of the lower animals, notably 

 anthrax and rabies. 



In the upbuilding of veterinary medicine in America from a more 

 or less empirical doctoring of animals to a well-recognized science, 

 the American Veterinary Medical Association has been a conspicuous 

 agency, and its membership may well be congratulated upon the 

 substantial progress which they have helped to promote. The Asso- 

 ciation of Veterinary Faculties and Examining Boards of North 



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